Help needed: Visual Studio 2012 fundraiser

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Moonchild
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Help needed: Visual Studio 2012 fundraiser

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-10-02, 18:35

Target reached! This post no longer applies :)

Your help is needed: I need to raise $650 (USD) to be able to afford the tools required for Pale Moon's further development.

What is this all about?
Pale Moon is built using Microsoft's Visual Studio development tools. Unfortunately, these tools are not free to use. To be able to continue getting the best and fastest version of the browser, I'm faced with a problem: I need to get a license for Visual Studio 2012 Professional. Since Pale Moon is Free and Open Source, I don't have any sales to fund this - meaning I have to rely on the generosity of Pale Moon users to get the required funds together.

What about Visual Studio Express?
Microsoft provides "Express" versions of their development tools that are free to download and use. These could possibly be used to build Pale Moon as well, but are lacking one very important feature that is essential for Pale Moon to be built fully optimized. The free versions of Visual Studio are therefore not an option.

What about the current versions?
Currently, Pale Moon is being built with Visual Studio 2010. This package works well but has a few serious shortcomings and won't suffice for future builds, especially with the ongoing support and added features needed for Windows 8. This version of Visual Studio will continue to be used for a little while longer, until Microsoft releases a promised update to their 2012 version to add support for Windows XP compatible binaries from the new compilers, at which point it will be the version of choice for Pale Moon. Version 2010 has a few serious compiler bugs that prevent full optimization of the browser (as some people have already clearly noticed in some of the later builds); compiler bugs that have been addressed in 2012. 2012 also adds support for better use of multiple cores in PCs, and will create overall snappier and better-optimized binaries. Plenty of reasons to push for this new version for Pale Moon development.

How can I help?
I've started a fundraiser using ChipIn, where you can securely "chip in" to get the money together for this quite expensive development package.
http://palemoon.chipin.com/vs2012-for-pale-moon
You can also help by spreading the word about this fundraiser! Use your social networks, tell friends, etc.

EDIT: Important note: If you have access to Visual Studio 2012 through an MSDN subscription through your work or school, you can not offer this as a solution to my problem (sharing downloads and keys). The thought of wanting to help that way is appreciated, but is not allowed under MSDN licensing terms. Of course suggesting Pirated versions is a big No-No as well!

EDIT2: I've adjusted the target amount of the ChipIn to compensate for donations received outside of the ChipIn system that aren't counted.
Last edited by Moonchild on 2012-10-10, 08:07, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Un-stickied - amount reached!
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

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Moonchild
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Re: Help needed: Visual Studio 2012 fundraiser

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-10-03, 06:52

An extra note here: Visual Studio 2012 will be used once Microsoft provides an update to the compiler and libraries, not before, to ensure compatibility with Windows XP as a target platform for Pale Moon:
Steve Teixeira wrote:In order to better meet customer needs relative to build configuration and XP targeting, we have made the decision to enhance multi-targeting to support Windows XP targeting directly from the Visual Studio 2012 C++ compiler and libraries.

Enhancing Multi-targeting
Later this fall, Microsoft will provide an update to Visual Studio 2012 that will enable C++ applications to target Windows XP. This update will make the necessary modifications to the Visual C++ 2012 compiler, runtime, and libraries to enable developers to create applications and DLLs that run on Windows XP and higher versions as well as Windows Server 2003 and higher. This update will also be included in the recently-announced Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Desktop.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/06/15/10320645.aspx
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

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