Does Microsoft allow other people to...?

[dragon4spy]

Hi everyone!

Does Microsoft allow us to create and distribute our own VB.Net IDE instead of using Visual Studio.Net?

Is it legal or not to do so? Because we can download .net framework SDK for free, write vb.net code in our own IDE, and then we can compile our code using the free SDK.

 

[Merrion]

They do indeed....drop us a note when youre done ;-)

 

[dragon4spy]

Yes! Sure i am

Somebody has told me that VB is monopoly, thus i thought that on no account must it be cloned or recreated.

Im glad that it could be done without any laws trouble.

 

[Iceplug]

I wouldnt see why there would be a legal restriction on making a .NET IDE, since you can write VB.NET code in Notepad and just save it as a .vb file . Its just text. The compilers, however, *could be* what theyd get you for.

 

[PlausiblyDamp]

http://www.go-mono.com/mbas.html - there already exists a 3rd party VB compiler.
A lot of work still needs to be done though....

 

[samsmithnz]

I understood that all youre paying for in Visual Studio.Net is the actual IDE, which includes all the debugging tools, code coloring, tasks, line numbers, integration with VSS and other tools, Intellisense, etc, etc. Basically all the stuff that helps to make things QUICKLY.

I can understand people wanting to create their own IDE if they were poor, but once youre working, and your company provides you with a enterprise Ed. of Visual Studio... the point for me is lost anyway.

 

[Robby]

Originally posted by samsmithnz
I can understand people wanting to create their own IDE if they were poor...

This would place you in a catch-22 position, Youll always remain poor spending your time developing a new IDE.

 

[Bucky]

Haha Robby, good point.

Iceplug, how could they get for for compiling if its a feature built
into the .NET framework? Theres no reason it shouldnt be
perfecty legal, just look at SharpDevelop.

 

[Divil]

The compilers are part of the .NET framework distribution. Nobody will complain about you writing your own IDE that uses the compilers that are part of the framework.

 

[Iceplug]

Iceplug, how could they get for for compiling if its a feature built
into the .NET framework?

I thought I edited my post to say "but I doubt it.".
But anyway, I figured not, since compilers are remade all of the time.