[nem-en] Legally Distributing Visual Studio Plugin Source

[Kenneth Ismert]

>>Also, I'm still not sure if making the plugin source code
>>public is permitted by VSIP EULA. AFAIK it forbids it...
>>Still, I guess it will be ok to share compiled binaries or
>>maybe even release them on the page in future...

The solution is to incorporate. 'Nemerle Holdings, Inc.', or some such,
would own the VS Plug-in source. It would give away free 'evaluation'
binaries, basically unlimited use copies. If you wanted the source, you
would become a 'developer parter', by sending $1 to the company. That
would get you access to the source repository. Then, it works like any
Open Source project. 

The company would be run by 'shareholders', who are just developer
partners who purchase a share for some token amount. The shareholders
meet online, hold elections to select virtual board of directors, to
meet the minimal requirements of sustaining the corporation. Sales of
partnerships and shares help defray the costs of operating the servers,
etc.

The concept is taken from Database Advisors Inc., a non-profit, virtual
corporation whose goal is to support free support forums for Access and
SQL Server. See: 

  http://www.databaseadvisors.com/aboutus/whoweare.htm

I know that this is not 'Open Source' for the purist, but it is a close
as you are likely to get, given Microsoft's current restrictions.

-Ken Ismert