C# 411Microsoft has stated that its Windows Phone Marketplace will reject any apps that use the GNU General Public License (GPL) and similar licenses. As stated in Article 5 of Microsoft’s Application Provider Agreement:
“The Application must not include software, documentation, or other materials that, in whole or in part, are governed by or subject to an Excluded License, or that would otherwise cause the Application to be subject to the terms of an Excluded License.”
Do you notice anything odd about the following list?
00000000-9b6d-4998-9dd7-6026894bdfba
11111111-9022-4400-bac2-8b66a9874443
22222222-a890-4dec-98bc-f41536b760bc
33333333-e361-4239-8d04-3f16f68ad9ce
44444444-d8c2-40ab-91bd-5a84511ed9d3
55555555-447a-4aa9-a51f-35c74a154156
66666666-193b-4ac3-bd92-860b6b49aedb
77777777-49de-4cc5-b9e6-2e5785dd47af
88888888-0d00-4672-933a-d68e240772be
99999999-7d9d-4d77-9e35-5e919db0f7d1
aaaaaaaa-76cd-4d6b-bae2-574e5b57c7ab
bbbbbbbb-6f9e-4d2d-ba11-64df5c7355fa
cccccccc-b897-4b15-9ab3-11b97836ce85
dddddddd-b417-48ad-8b5b-b762df75e03b
eeeeeeee-cc9c-4cb8-bae0-bbd4b10307fa
ffffffff-8d46-4a31-b297-2ac67dda3600
Yes, they are all legitimate Guids (Globally Unique IDs). But each is also a Vanity Guid, which is a unique ID that has some recognizable pattern embedded in the Guid’s text representation. A Vanity Guid is like a vanity license plate, only geekier.
Red Gate has announced that .NET Reflector will no longer be free at the end of February 2011. According to an open letter by Neil Davidson, Red Gate’s co-CEO:
”Red Gate has announced that it will charge $35 for version 7 of .NET Reflector upon its release in early March. Version 7 will be sold as a perpetual license, with no time bomb or forced updates.
As many of you know, our original intention was to maintain .NET Reflector as a free tool. But, after two-and-a-half years of providing it without charge, we realized that we could not make the free model work. We know that this will cause pain for some people in the .NET community, and we apologize for the change in policy.
As a commercial company, we need to charge at least a nominal amount to keep .NET Reflector up-to-date and relevant. Without revenue coming in, we cannot dedicate a team of developers to ensure that Reflector remains a valuable part of .NET developers’ toolboxes.”
