Wow, Microsoft is once again doing something people said they never would, releasing source code.  This is not the same as Open Sourcing the .NET Framework, not even close. 

Take a look at Scott's Blog entry about the release and the technology behind how it works. Microsoft is releasing the source code for the .NET Framework base class libraries under the Microsoft Reference License (see bottom of this entry).  The license allows you to view the code, but not copy or recompile. Huh?  Does that sound like double talk? 

No, not really.  Imagine you are working on an app and getting a crash in the .NET runtime.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to step into the framework and see where it is crashing and why?  You could do this with MFC years ago, and I think this is a great step for Microsoft.  I have had a number of times where crashes in the .NET Runtime were the most frustrating to track down because you had no idea why it was blowing up. 

And I really don’t want every user customizing their .NET Runtime and releasing their own binaries anyway. All of this is going to happen with the Visual Studio 2008 release, as a part of the install.  If you do not agree to the license, you can’t install the code.  I personally do not have a problem with it, and I like the idea of anything that helps me debug my code better.  One of the coolest features is that it can update the source depending upon what version of the framework you are debugging.  If you have a Service Pack installed, it can still show you the correct source.

LINKS

Microsoft Reference license