Things to consider w/microsoft technologies?

Question

I'm in the process of planning out a public facing web application. I've not decided on what platform / tools I will use just yet but it's between asp.net or one of the lamp flavors.

My question is are there any licensing or otherwise issues that I should consider if I choose asp.net for a public facing for profit web application? The last thing I want is to get a call stating I've missed some licensing issue or because I'm using .net and c# I owe Microsoft anything or that they have some right to what has been written.

Thanks!

Answer 1

To be frank, you should go with the technologies you are more familiar rather than licensing.

For MS, the licensing scheme is pretty straightforward-- You need license for Windows Server 2008, VS 2008, SQL Server Management App. All of them can be pricy. But they don't have funny terms; once you bought them, they are yours to use forever. When time for upgrades come, you can just buy the upgrade license.

If you are starting a startup, then you can consider BizSpark, you can get significantly cheaper licensing scheme that way.

Answer 2

Microsoft definitely won't own anything that you've written. Really, the main licencing concern is the cost of Windows (presumably one of the Server editions) and SQL Server (not the Express version if your database is going to be too big.) Even the SQL Express licence allows you to use it for commercial purposes, it's not just for testing/evaluation.

Answer 3

That's the great thing about LAMP (or Java, or Ruby, etc.) -- you've got the option of going with software that you don't have to pay a dime for. However, you can still pay for support offerings with the companies that officially maintain the software, or with independent companies.

But in the long run, it's almost always best to pick what matches your needs and your skill set, even if you're picking a technology that you have to pay for. The licensing is straightforward, and If you're starting your own company, working with a platform you're very good at can give you an edge over working with one that you're just learning.

Answer 4

If you payed Microsoft, and everyone definitely pays Microsoft for every bit of everything, then you owe them nothing. Nothing.

But open source is different story. If you are in any serious software business, then you already know that Open Source is very risky to be included into salable products in USA. Some particular forms of Open Source licenses are extremely toxic from rational business point of view.

Edit: Guys, guys. please just take a look http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1C1GPMD%5FenUS337US337&q=google+sued+open+source&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Answer 5

Hi, You can use Visual Studio Express Edition free of charge, even for commercial purposes. SQL Server Express is the same, but has some limitations. However, if you're going to be using a non-express edition of SQL Server, you'll need to buy a license for it. Often, the web host has the license covered (usually at a small increase in charge for you). Best to contact the web-host to see. However, ASP.NET can be used with MySQL which is free to use so you could go down that route. If you're thinking of starting a business with this, then you may want to take a look at the Bizspark scheme as it provides you with 3 years worth of licenses for most MS developer products.