4 ms·

This is harder than what I do. Just install LTSC Visual Studio build tools from [1], then chuck this in a cmd file: cl yourprogram.c /link user32.lib advap

by dgxyz 8mo ago

This is harder than what I do. Just install LTSC Visual Studio build tools from [1], then chuck this in a cmd file: cl yourprogram.c /link user32.lib advapi32.lib ... etc etc ... I've built a load of utilities that do that just fine. I use vim as an editor. The Visual Studio toolchain does have LTSC and stable releases - no one seems to know about them though. see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/visualstudio/releases/2022/release-history#fixed-version-bootstrappers https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/visualstudio/releases/2022... - you should use these if you are not a single developer and have to collaborate with people. Back like in the old days when we had pinned versions of the toolchain across whole company. [1] https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/5d23a358-8ed7-4560-81e7-fb52d6a3ae02/2b25d9b457dfaf84fcb2af5b21264322b029b6efafd3178b1a4a8a7b79a18105/vs_BuildTools.exe https://download.visualstudio.microsoft.com/download/pr/5d23...

aleph_minus_one 8mo ago
> The Visual Studio toolchain does have LTSC and stable releases - no one seems to know about them though. You only get access to the LTSC channel if you have a license for at least Visual Studio Professional (Community won't do it); so a lot of hobbyist programmers and students are not aware of it. On the other hand, its existence is in my experience very well-known among people who use Visual Studio for work at some company.
- dgxyz 8mo ago
  You can install the LTSC toolchain without a license. Just not the IDE.
  - foepys 8mo ago
    That's not correct. You don't have to give your credit card details or even be logged in but you are still required to have any Visual Studio license. For hobbyists and startups the VS Community license is enough but larger companies need a VS Professional license even for the VS Build Tools. How strict Microsoft is with enforcement of this license is another story.
    - dgxyz 8mo ago
      [flagged]
      - okanat 8mo ago
        Well, let's say this is the world view of all companies about open-source software. Then what happens. If people "tend to not give crap" about licenses, all the nice guarantees of GPL etc also disappear.
        scotty79 8mo ago
        There are zero guarantees and commercial software uses GPLd software as parts of their products all the time. Licenses do not work and you shouldn't respect them whenever you can.
        cies 8mo ago
        Very weird comparison. GPL was made in response to restrictive commercial licensing. Yes is uses the same legal document (a license): but is made in response! So is propriety seizes to exist, then it's not a problem GPL also seizes to exist. Also: it's quite obvious to me that IP-law nowadays too much. It may have been a good idea at first, but now it's a monster (and people seem to die because of it: Aaron Swartz and Suchir Balaji come to mind).
    - anankaie 8mo ago
      You do not need a Professional or Enterprise license to use the Visual Studio Build Tools: > Previously, if the application you were developing was not OSS, installing VSBT was permitted only if you had a valid Visual Studio license (e.g., Visual Studio Community or higher). From (https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/updates-to-visual-studio-build-tools-license-for-c-and-cpp-open-source-projects/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/updates-to-visual-stu...). For OSS, you do not even need a Community License anymore.
      - dwattttt 8mo ago
        This does not apply if you're developing closed source: > if you and your team need to compile and develop proprietary C++ code with Visual Studio, a Visual Studio license will still be required.
- kfsone 8mo ago
  The Visual Studio Build Tools are installable with winget (`winget search buildtools`). There are licensing constraints, IANL but essentially you need a pro+ license on the account if you're going to use it to build commercial software or in a business environment.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
mycall 8mo ago
I noticed Visual Studio 2026 doesn't have an LTSC release yet. Any idea when that will come out?
- everyflavourvms 8mo ago
  They've completely reworked release plans. 2026 LTSC will come out a year after the initial VS 2026 release (at the same time as VS 2027) and be supported for 1 more year. You pretty much have to get on the rolling updates train for the IDE, which is why the C++ toolchain now follows a different schedule and you're supposed to be able to install any specific toolchain side by side.
  - mananaysiempre 8mo ago
    So in this new Microsoft world, “long term” means “one or two years, depending on how you count”? Ohhkay.
    - alphager 8mo ago
      No, LTCS means the version after the end of public beta.
pseudohadamard 8mo ago
I worked with VC++ 6.0 up until Windows 11 when it really, really wouldn't run any more, then switched to VS 2008. The code is portable across multiple systems so it didn't really matter which version of VS it's developed with, and VC++ 6.0 would load, build the project, and have it ready to run while VS 2022 was still struggling through its startup process. VS 2008 is starting to show the elephantine... no, continental land-mass bloat that VS is currently at, and has a number of annoying bugs, but it's still vastly better than anything after about VS 2012. And the cool thing is that MS can't fuck with it any more. When I fire up VS tomorrow it'll be the exact same VS I used today, not with half a dozen features broken, moved around, gone without a trace, ...
- dgxyz 8mo ago
  Yeah recent VS is awful. I recently tried VS2022. What a mess.
  - pseudohadamard 8mo ago
    VS2026 is even worse. And if you thought the CoPilot enshittification in 2022 was bad, wait'll you see 2026. We only use it for final builds now, so develop under a bloated but at least not enshittified yet version, then do release builds and testing with whatever the latest version is before shipping.

by dgxyz 8mo ago

aleph_minus_one 8mo ago

> The Visual Studio toolchain does have LTSC and stable releases - no one seems to know about them though. You only get access to the LTSC channel if you have a license for at least Visual Studio Professional (Community won't do it); so a lot of hobbyist programmers and students are not aware of it. On the other hand, its existence is in my experience very well-known among people who use Visual Studio for work at some company.

dgxyz 8mo ago
You can install the LTSC toolchain without a license. Just not the IDE.
- foepys 8mo ago
  That's not correct. You don't have to give your credit card details or even be logged in but you are still required to have any Visual Studio license. For hobbyists and startups the VS Community license is enough but larger companies need a VS Professional license even for the VS Build Tools. How strict Microsoft is with enforcement of this license is another story.
  - dgxyz 8mo ago
    [flagged]
    - okanat 8mo ago
      Well, let's say this is the world view of all companies about open-source software. Then what happens. If people "tend to not give crap" about licenses, all the nice guarantees of GPL etc also disappear.
      - scotty79 8mo ago
        There are zero guarantees and commercial software uses GPLd software as parts of their products all the time. Licenses do not work and you shouldn't respect them whenever you can.
      - cies 8mo ago
        Very weird comparison. GPL was made in response to restrictive commercial licensing. Yes is uses the same legal document (a license): but is made in response! So is propriety seizes to exist, then it's not a problem GPL also seizes to exist. Also: it's quite obvious to me that IP-law nowadays too much. It may have been a good idea at first, but now it's a monster (and people seem to die because of it: Aaron Swartz and Suchir Balaji come to mind).
  - anankaie 8mo ago
    You do not need a Professional or Enterprise license to use the Visual Studio Build Tools: > Previously, if the application you were developing was not OSS, installing VSBT was permitted only if you had a valid Visual Studio license (e.g., Visual Studio Community or higher). From (https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/updates-to-visual-studio-build-tools-license-for-c-and-cpp-open-source-projects/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/cppblog/updates-to-visual-stu...). For OSS, you do not even need a Community License anymore.
    - dwattttt 8mo ago
      This does not apply if you're developing closed source: > if you and your team need to compile and develop proprietary C++ code with Visual Studio, a Visual Studio license will still be required.
kfsone 8mo ago
The Visual Studio Build Tools are installable with winget (`winget search buildtools`). There are licensing constraints, IANL but essentially you need a pro+ license on the account if you're going to use it to build commercial software or in a business environment.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

mycall 8mo ago

I noticed Visual Studio 2026 doesn't have an LTSC release yet. Any idea when that will come out?

everyflavourvms 8mo ago
They've completely reworked release plans. 2026 LTSC will come out a year after the initial VS 2026 release (at the same time as VS 2027) and be supported for 1 more year. You pretty much have to get on the rolling updates train for the IDE, which is why the C++ toolchain now follows a different schedule and you're supposed to be able to install any specific toolchain side by side.
- mananaysiempre 8mo ago
  So in this new Microsoft world, “long term” means “one or two years, depending on how you count”? Ohhkay.
  - alphager 8mo ago
    No, LTCS means the version after the end of public beta.

pseudohadamard 8mo ago

I worked with VC++ 6.0 up until Windows 11 when it really, really wouldn't run any more, then switched to VS 2008. The code is portable across multiple systems so it didn't really matter which version of VS it's developed with, and VC++ 6.0 would load, build the project, and have it ready to run while VS 2022 was still struggling through its startup process. VS 2008 is starting to show the elephantine... no, continental land-mass bloat that VS is currently at, and has a number of annoying bugs, but it's still vastly better than anything after about VS 2012. And the cool thing is that MS can't fuck with it any more. When I fire up VS tomorrow it'll be the exact same VS I used today, not with half a dozen features broken, moved around, gone without a trace, ...

dgxyz 8mo ago
Yeah recent VS is awful. I recently tried VS2022. What a mess.
- pseudohadamard 8mo ago
  VS2026 is even worse. And if you thought the CoPilot enshittification in 2022 was bad, wait'll you see 2026. We only use it for final builds now, so develop under a bloated but at least not enshittified yet version, then do release builds and testing with whatever the latest version is before shipping.