[ale] OT: Microsoft moves to comply with DOJ settlement deal]

[Fulton Green]

Yeah, but the inline comments also mentioned that the APIs would be fee-
based, so that was what I was calling attention to. Maybe the original
poster to the newsgroup was describing another set of APIs. Not that it
matters a whole lot; turns out even the most basic Visual Studio .NET
package will set you back at least $600 (or $1000 if you don't have an
upgrade path). There are stand-alone editions of Visual C++ and Visual C#
for $110 each, but still, why should I have to pay for the privilege of
developing for M$ OSen when I can develop for Linux or Java for free?!?


On Tue, Aug 06, 2002 at 02:46:24PM -0400, Geoffrey wrote:
> Fulton Green wrote:
> > FUD alert ... the PressPass article I read (available at
> > http://www.Microsoft.com/presspass/legal/aug02/08-05settlementmilestones.asp )
> > indicates that the APIs will be available at "no additional charge". I'm
> > assuming that the "original charge" in this case would be the cost of
> > purchasing the Visual Studio IDE and NOT the cost of licensing the
> > proprietary protocols.
> 
> What I see from this link matches what I see on the Microsoft link you 
> provided.  At issue is this piece:
> 
> The availability of approximately 113 proprietary protocols that server 
> vendors can license and use as a new way of achieving interoperability 
> with Windows desktops.
> 
> Note the wording 'vendors can license,' meaning PAY FOR.
> 
> 
> > 
> > On Tue, Aug 06, 2002 at 02:07:46PM -0400, Geoffrey wrote:
> > 
> >>As usual, Microsoft is doing it their way.  I've left the comments of 
> >>the original poster as they have some insight, but check out the url for 
> >>yourself.
> >>
> >>Hi all,
> >>
> >>This came over a bit ago, courtesy of Computerworld. I strongly suggest
...
> >>to do this gratis, given that they appear to have escaped a fine; the second
> >>thing is the APIs will also be fee-based, and lastly, there is a digital

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