Zachary Gorden wrote:
To specifically address the points raised, the fact that something is open source does not automatically elevate it in priority for this project. Quite a few of us work for companies that make heavy use of Visual Studio and appreciate all the functionality in it. The fact that the source code for CB is available actually doesn't add much favor to it when we evaluate which tools to support. Our primary concern is what tools can we use and what does the job the best. Of the IDEs we can use, there's quite a few, ranging from VS to CB to even Eclipse and Netbeans. The one that would to the job the best, in our view, is VS, so we will choose it. If few people on the team even touch CB or the other IDEs, then there is little motivation to continue supporting it, especially if that support was broken to begin with. You claim there is a strategic reason to provide support for open source platforms. In this instance, the project feels that that strategic reason is not important enough to merit continued effort. If you feel strongly enough to try and make it work, then go for it, but the rest of us aren't terribly bothered by not having access to VS' source code.
Yes, I quite understand your point, of course. The benefit of being able to use a single IDE for both daytime work and FOSS efforts is obvious. I was just a bit concerned we might end up in a situation where we are *required* to use a commercial product to build our open source project, or even work conveniently with the source. But then again, we're talking about the working environment, not the compiler, so I guess my concern is a bit misplaced .. :-)
Also, our intent is that we also support using the Express editions of Visual Studio, so getting access to VS should not be that hard unless you refuse to work on Windows.
It seems like Microsoft no longer offer VS Express for download.. At least I couldn't find it when I went looking. I'll try to make do with CB.
Best Regards // Love