I just filed Intend-to-package bug number #416996:

* Package name    : stereo
  Version         : 2.0 beta
* URL             : http://www.mono-project.com/Stereo
* License         : LGPL
  Programming Lang: C#
  Description     : Mono (.NET) extension for running
                    multiple applications

Stereo is an extension to the Mono (.NET/C#) platform for running multiple applications at the same time.

As you probably know, C# is a language using a bytecode, called CIL: Common Intermediate Language. Using code in an intermediate language has benefits for platform and operating system independence (Java is the most prominent example of this approach), however it also means an overhead when running the applications. Various approaches have been tried to remedy these effects, such as JIT (just in time) compilers translating the bytecode to native code when needed.

Applications running based on such bytecodes tend to use more memory than regular applications (for example, they need to keep the compiled code in writeable memory, whereas regular applications can use shared read-only memory for this), and you probably have heard many people complain about the memory usage of Java and .Net applications. Some people even claim the Linux .NET platform is called “Mono” because you can run at most one such application at the same time.

That how “stereo” was born: an extensions to run two (or more) applications in the same mono environment, thus reducing the memory overhead significantly, and making it useful for more people.

Future versions should even be able to run Python (using IronPython) and eventually Java applications in the stereo runtime. It is also planned to add support for multiple user operation. So eventually, it will be able to replace your whole system. The project will then also change it’s name to Multics, to reflect it’s unique multi-user capabilities. At least if we get enough funding by Dunc-Tank, who is currently sponsoring all our development efforts.