LINQ Licensing

LINQ Licensing

• Ali Zahid

  I am not a lawyer so I can't interpret EULA for you and only a lawyer can really answer this question. But do consider the following:
  First bullet of EULA discusses the issue more or less clearly - not for "live operating environment".
  
  In addition, please also consider:
  - It is not "supported"
  - It is not "tested" like a product
  
  Bottom line - I would not use it if I were you.
  
  Dinesh
  
  
  
  
  

• Bhupathy Kandasamy

  Thanks for the reply, Dinesh.
  
  I understand the issues around the LINQ assemblies and the prototype compiler not being supported, and the implementation not having yet been exposed to all necessary forms of testing, but I'm wondering what the repercussions would be for putting LINQ into production on limited scale projects.
  
  I don't expect you to be able to answer the question since its a legal question, so no sweat if this isn't a question that can be answered.
  
  I'm wondering why the licensing restrictions exist at all if the bits are clearly identified as being unsupported.  There are some very usable aspects of LINQ that are in the bits right now.
  
  It's a darned shame that the EULA is structured such that we can't begin to take advantage of LINQ - at our own discretion and risk - right now.
  
  It would be nice to see you guys do some work with the legal folks to lift these seemingly unnecessary restrictions from the community's shoulders, enabling us to put LINQ into practice in instances where it's inherently appropriate.
  
  I'm ready to use the parts of LINQ that I'm comfortable with and whose risks I feel are well understood.  I have no expectation of support beyond what I can get from this forum (which is pretty darned good support anyway).
  
  Essentially, I want a license for this stuff that allows me to use in in production at my discretion and insulates Microsoft from whatever responsibilities and liabilities that it needs insulation from.
  
  So, if you're hanging out with the legal folks over lunch at some point, maybe you could bring this up.  I understand that you guys are innovating faster than your legal department, but that's nothing that a playful kick in the rump can't fix :) 
  
  Cheers,
  Scott
  

• J Bradley

  Yeah.. got the same answer in the chats.  I think someone (Matt ) said it sounded like an interesting (if unlikely) idea.
  
  But for what it's worth, here's a second, or third, or whatever. ;)
  
  
  
• LINQ Licensing