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by aleph_minus_one11 hours ago |
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upvoteby dgxyz11 hours ago|
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You can install the LTSC toolchain without a license. Just not the IDE.
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upvoteby foepys10 hours ago|
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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.

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upvoteby anankaie8 hours ago|
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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-stu...). For OSS, you do not even need a Community License anymore.

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upvoteby dwattttt4 hours ago|
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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.

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upvoteby quietbritishjim3 hours ago|
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That just confirms the parent comment's point. If you're just using the build tools directly, you're fine. If need to develop "with Visual Studio" i.e. the IDE, not just the command line tools, then you need the paid license.
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upvoteby irishcoffee3 hours ago|
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Is the fancy text editor compiling, or the toolchain?

I don’t need visual to write, read, compile, or link any code using the toolchain.

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upvoteby dgxyz10 hours ago|
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[flagged]
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upvoteby okanat10 hours ago|
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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.
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upvoteby cies1 hours ago|
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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).

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upvoteby scotty797 hours ago|
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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.
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upvoteby qingcharles7 hours ago|
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And a VS license isn't too expensive if you really want to buy one. Stack Social have legit licenses discounted to $15:

https://www.stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-visual-studio-pr...

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upvoteby eps5 hours ago|
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This definetly looks like some sort of scam. Like a volume key license being resold against EULA or some such.
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upvoteby aleph_minus_one5 hours ago|
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> Like a volume key license being resold against EULA or some such.

At least in the EU, this is legal.

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upvoteby eps4 hours ago|
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Through which means?
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upvoteby aleph_minus_one4 hours ago|
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I can only provide articles that are in German:

An article about court decision by the EuGH from 2012:

https://www.heise.de/hintergrund/EuGH-Gebrauchte-Softwareliz...

Another court decision from the BGH (the highest German civil court) from 2014 that builds on this EuGH decision:

https://www.heise.de/news/BGH-begruendet-Rechtmaessigkeit-de...

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upvoteby kfsone5 hours ago|
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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.

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