4 ms·

Apple's and Microsoft's compilers are downloadable for free (Apple's is actually Clang), they're not forcing you to pay if you want to use them; even the IDEs h

Apple's and Microsoft's compilers are downloadable for free (Apple's is actually Clang), they're not forcing you to pay if you want to use them; even the IDEs have been free for a while without any kind of payment or subscription.

gmueckl 6y ago
That is not quite true in the case of Visual Studio. There is a community edition, but it is only free under a very constrained set of circumstances (mostly company revenue < 100.000$/year, IIRC). Most business need to buy Visual Studio Professional to legally use that IDE.
- Narishma 6y ago
  How is that enforced?
  - the-dude 6y ago
    Meet the BSA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance)
- qayxc 6y ago
  From the horses mouth [1]: > Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps. No revenue cap to be found. Also: > In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use Visual Studio Community. Again - no revenue cap. And finally: > enterprise organizations (meaning those with >250 PCs or >$1 Million US Dollars in annual revenue) Now call be a naive buffoon, but in my book, >$1M annual revenue and/or >250 IT workplaces means that licensing costs for software are not a problem at all. This restriction also only applies to commercial use - academic, OSS, and classroom environments are still allowed. I really don't see how this is constricting in any way. Edit: [1] https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/ https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/ (under "Usage")
  - gmueckl 6y ago
    I got the revenue limit wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that the Community edition isn't free for everybody. It has strings attached. That was my point.
    - qayxc 6y ago
      It doesn't have strings attached that concern users - that was my point. It's also not just "getting the revenue limit wrong" if said limit doesn't even apply to individuals and small companies. As soon as a commercial organisation enters 250+ IT workplaces and >$1M annual revenue, license management becomes relevant in any case and isn't exactly "strings attached"-territory. Feel free to disagree, but I still think your argument is pretty weak.
- thechao 6y ago
  If I could buy visual studio ultimate/pro/... for my Mac, I’d do so. I miss it sorely.
- otterlicious 6y ago
  The compilers can be downloaded for free by anyone as part of the Build Tools for Visual Studio. These restrictions only apply to the Visual Studio IDE.

gmueckl 6y ago

That is not quite true in the case of Visual Studio. There is a community edition, but it is only free under a very constrained set of circumstances (mostly company revenue < 100.000$/year, IIRC). Most business need to buy Visual Studio Professional to legally use that IDE.

Narishma 6y ago
How is that enforced?
- the-dude 6y ago
  Meet the BSA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance)
qayxc 6y ago
From the horses mouth [1]: > Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps. No revenue cap to be found. Also: > In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use Visual Studio Community. Again - no revenue cap. And finally: > enterprise organizations (meaning those with >250 PCs or >$1 Million US Dollars in annual revenue) Now call be a naive buffoon, but in my book, >$1M annual revenue and/or >250 IT workplaces means that licensing costs for software are not a problem at all. This restriction also only applies to commercial use - academic, OSS, and classroom environments are still allowed. I really don't see how this is constricting in any way. Edit: [1] https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/ https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/ (under "Usage")
- gmueckl 6y ago
  I got the revenue limit wrong, but it doesn't change the fact that the Community edition isn't free for everybody. It has strings attached. That was my point.
  - qayxc 6y ago
    It doesn't have strings attached that concern users - that was my point. It's also not just "getting the revenue limit wrong" if said limit doesn't even apply to individuals and small companies. As soon as a commercial organisation enters 250+ IT workplaces and >$1M annual revenue, license management becomes relevant in any case and isn't exactly "strings attached"-territory. Feel free to disagree, but I still think your argument is pretty weak.
thechao 6y ago
If I could buy visual studio ultimate/pro/... for my Mac, I’d do so. I miss it sorely.
otterlicious 6y ago
The compilers can be downloaded for free by anyone as part of the Build Tools for Visual Studio. These restrictions only apply to the Visual Studio IDE.