Migrate WebPlayer and AutomationServices to .NET Core Merged

Microsoft released .NET Core 3.1 (LTS) on Nov 2019.

Microsoft announced .NET Framework 4.8 is not going to be continued and .NET Core 5.0 will be the path forward.

In order to continue development of WebPlayer&AutomationServices both TIBCO and customers building customizations need to migrate/upgrade to .NET Core.

As immediate benefits, NET Core has the following characteristics:

• Cross-platform: Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

• Consistent across architectures: Runs your code with the same behavior on multiple architectures, including x64, x86, and ARM.

• Command-line tools: Includes easy-to-use command-line tools that can be used for local development and in continuous-integration scenarios.

• Flexible deployment: Can be included in your app or installed side-by-side (user-wide or system-wide installations). Can be used with Docker containers.

• Compatible: .NET Core is compatible with .NET Framework, Xamarin, and Mono, via .NET Standard.

• Open source: The .NET Core platform is open source, using MIT and Apache 2 licenses. .NET Core is a .NET Foundation project.

• Supported by Microsoft: .NET Core is supported by Microsoft, per .NET Core Support.

This would also move us one step nearer delivering WebPlayer&AutomationServices as Linux containers.