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CAN I SELL "APPLICATIONS" DEVELOPED USING VISUAL STUDIO "COMMUNITY EDITIONS"?

Bharath J Sharma 1 Reputation point
2021-12-18T05:30:52.62+00:00

This question is very basic & straight forward. There are many different FAQ's in MSDN Forum but none has been awnsered straight. This License agreement or EULA begins with

a. Individual License. If you are an individual working on your own applications, either to sell or for any other purpose, you may use the software to develop and test those applications.

I rather fit in this category as a registered GST Entrepreneur in India to be specific.

The license agreement fails to mention specifically "What terms need to be agreed or maintained" specific to Microsoft EULA to sell the applications developed using Visual Studio Community Editions.

My customers range from Individual Entreprenueurs to Product Manufactures & my applications are to support their "Manufacturing Process"

LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAWS will be maintained by generating Tax invoice & paying the input taxes to government.

WHAT LEGAL TERMS ARE APPLICABLE AS PER/BY MICROSOFT TO PERFORM THIS BUSINESS?
ALSO WHAT ARE THE TERMS BY MICROSOFT TO BE AGREED OR MAINTAINED BY ME & MY CUSTOMERS TO RESALE IT ALONG WITH THE OTHER PRODUCTS(EULA MAINTAINED) IN CASE OF COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS.

All local government,legal,software by other providers, terms & conditions are clear & maintained related to my business. Only gray area is what Say's Microsoft to go ahead & use "Community" edition IDEs (Visual Studio 2019 Community to be specific). https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/license-terms/mlt031819/ - This is rather strengthening the confusion, not giving any information simple & straight. "YES" or "NO". What should I do for "YES"?

If the terms of the IDE are framed with full clearity there is no need for me to contact Microsoft or MSDN again by mail or call. I dont want to waste time in talking as there are plenty of alternatives. I would rather prefer to change entire product to Linux based OSS over calling/contacting the advisors even though this is not an easy option for me but much it is definitely much clear on papers.

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  1. PatrickTalon38 51 Reputation points
    2021-12-18T22:34:20.53+00:00

    From:

    Visual Studio Community Edition - Download Latest Free Version

    The final words on the matter come from the linked page: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/

    Quoted from the lower portion of the above linked page:

    Usage

    For individuals
    Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps.

    For organizations
    An unlimited number of users within an organization can use Visual Studio Community for the following scenarios: in a classroom learning environment, for academic research, or for contributing to open-source projects.

    For all other usage scenarios:
    In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use Visual Studio Community. In enterprise organizations (meaning those with >250 PCs or >$1 million US Dollars in annual revenue), no use is permitted beyond the open source, academic research, and classroom learning environment scenarios described above.

    I hope that is official enough words from Microsoft to ease any legal concerns about using Community Edition for paid apps, by an individual, a sole proprietor, or a few members of a partnership.

    ~ Patrick

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  2. Ken Tucker 5,856 Reputation points
    2021-12-18T20:53:48.267+00:00

    In general if you are eligible for a Visual Studio community license you can sell apps written in Visual Studio community edition. But it is always best to consult a lawyer if you do not understand a license agreement

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