'Just went to download the new Xcode and discovered that although it is being promoted as free for developers, it's only free for those who've paid membership fees.

This is a big change.

Previously, anyone who wanted to do so could register as a developer and download Apple's developer tools for free to start making software for Macs. It was a great benefit to the community and a boon to newcomers who just wanted to get their feet wet as programmers.

Admittedly, the cost is not especially prohibitive. But the change raises many concerns.

It's distressing that it requires downloaders to purchase it through the Mac App Store... which means handing over credit card info and a great deal of personal information that previously did not have to be disclosed to Apple. We used to be able to download it anonymously. This is invasive data mining.

It's yet another in a series of moves towards the Mac being a closed and tightly vertically controlled platform.

Xcode has never been particularly well supported. As free software, the bugs could be tolerated. As paid software, we should expect at least email technical support, regular updates and quick responses to bug reports. Yet I doubt that Apple will improve at all in those respects.

A lot of the software is GPL. I wonder whether Apple has thoroughly checked that their licenses permit commercial distribution.

Also, it's being used to leverage the Mac App store, which I find a bit offensive. Not everyone can afford to program on the latest and greatest Mac and Mac OS.

Lots of other people bugged by this change. Some discussion here:
[forums.macrumors.com]

Overlords!!!

I guess it won't be on the Lion install DVD, either.

Still cheaper than the cost of the Microsoft MSDN

[msdn.microsoft.com]

This must be BRAND NEW... as I downloaded the Xcode and iOS SDK on tuesday of this week. Haven't updated a computer to 10.6 yet so I can actually install it... but I got it.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

Quote
cbelt3
Still cheaper than the cost of the Microsoft MSDN

[msdn.microsoft.com]

The Express version is free and there are are myriad ways that MS throws people licenses for the full version. For example, anyone with a .edu email address can get a license for free.

...But also, VS is MS's own mature, proprietary IDE with thousands of employees developing and supporting it and the company follows a compulsory update/bug-fix schedule. People pay for the service as much as the software.

Apple uses FOSS and GPL software in their's with precious little end-user support, updates on the "whenever we feel like it" schedule and they'll let huge bugs sit for years without addressing them.

BIG difference.

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Chakravartin

The Express version is free and there are are myriad ways that MS throws people licenses for the full version. For example, anyone with a .edu email address can get a license for free.

BIG difference.

The Express version is not licensed for commercial use, and as far as I can tell, it is crippled compared to the full version. No GUI development is possible without unsupported hacks.

It sounds like the .edu email address offer will similarly be licensed for non-commercial use.

As a commercial developer writing a small bit of cross-platform code (FileMaker plug-in), for me the differences in actual cost between MS and Apple is a Big difference.

Quote
Paul F.
This must be BRAND NEW... as I downloaded the Xcode and iOS SDK on tuesday of this week. Haven't updated a computer to 10.6 yet so I can actually install it... but I got it.

XCode 3 is still available for download for free.

I suspect that XCode 4 contains some additional features that required Apple to license something new from a third-party and pass the cost along to the consumer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2011 08:39AM by TheTominator.

BTW: The Xcode installer was downloaded by the App Store app into my Applications folder with "system" as owner so I can't even move the thing out of the folder without having to enter an admin password (or change the owner).

WTF!

The App Store sucks. I'd really like it to go away.

how much they charge?

does anyone still have the last "free" version that could make available to us via Dropbopx, please?

Quote
space-time
how much they charge?

$4.99

No, it's not a misplaced decimal point. It's $5.


If it is not passing along a license fee from a third-party royalty,
I think it is probably a "nuisance fee" to avoid the huge number of needless downloads it would have if they released it as a new item in the "free" category. In addition to clueless users downloading anything for free and confused about what it is supposed to do for them, it would be a massive waste of bandwidth.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2011 08:52AM by TheTominator.

I guess that as a consumer I can't get worked up about this. In the early days of OS X it was nice to have because it sometimes came with, or let you do a few things the OS proper lacked. But I haven't had the urge to download it since Tiger, and don't even think I used it then.

Regarding the rest, like forcing its install location and permissions, going through the new Store, charging for it ... I don't yet see how this lack of flexibility actually manifests into a practical restriction.

I'm sure you'll have an example however. I'll agree the philosophy can be unsettling, but that's not the same as a real problem necessarily for the majority of us.

Quote
TheTominator
... I think it is probably a "nuisance fee" to avoid the huge number of needless downloads it would have if they released it as a new item in the "free" category. ...

Wouldn't surprise me. The last version I downloaded---and probably didn't use---was about 1GB.

$5 is OK. I thought you had to pay the $99/year membership fee

Thanks

Quote
space-time
$5 is OK. I thought you had to pay the $99/year membership fee

Thanks

The deal is that registered developers who are already paying their $99/year developer fee get it as a free download.

People who are not paid, registered developers have to pay $5 to get it via the App Store.

The other catch is that if you're not paying the $99/yr fee, you CAN operate an app you build in "simulation mode" but CAN'T load your app on an actual iPhone/iPad/iTouch. That's a perk of the $99 fee.

The version I downloaded earlier this week was 3.5Gb.. so it'd be tough to send to someone!

---

Paul F.
-----
A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

--

--
Eureka, CA

Quote
Chakravartin
A lot of the software is GPL. I wonder whether Apple has thoroughly checked that their licenses permit commercial distribution.

The GPL allows software to be sold. As I remember things, the GPL has always allowed for this actually. GPL is about ensuring people share software changes, i.e. keeping updates to the source available, there is nothing prohibiting selling software that is licensed by the GPL.

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Chakravartin
It's yet another in a series of moves towards the Mac being a closed and tightly vertically controlled platform.

That's funny. I've always told businesses not to standardize on proprietary single vendor platforms. Apple could care less about backwards compatible. Did your shop standardize on Snow Leopard? Is Lion shipping? Better start scouring the market for hardware as as soon as possible. Apple doesn't support downgrading OS installations. Windows isn't much better except you get to choose the hardware vendor and can generally get the last version of Windows working on newer hardware (your mileage may vary of course).

I've always been a proponent of open source and free libre software for businesses. The business gets much more control of the software they are using, can still get external support contracts if necessary.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2011 01:07PM by silvarios.