My question regards the MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO COMMUNITY 2015 license in conjunction with MASM32 SDK license.
MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO COMMUNITY 2015
https://www.visualstudio.com/support/legal/mt171547MASM SDK LICENSE
http://www.masm32.com/licence.htmGoal:
My goal is to develop a custom programming language that the end user can use for developing on and generating executables for multiple platforms including non-microsoft platforms.
Development description:
Im using visual studio community 2015 c++ for developing this project.
I intend the final project to be able to generate code for the windows platform. (Windows portable execution format)
To help me learn and understand how the Windows portable execution format works internally I would like to utilize MASM SDK to generate a simple executable file ONLY for reference.
This means that I will be generating an executable file with MASM to use as a template, so that I can progressively overwrite more and more of this file with my own compiler until my compiler can generate the whole file on its own.
This will enable my to test and run the generated executable without having to write the compiler output generator in one go. Which is very hard considering the complexity of windows executable format.
So basically I am using the MASM generated file as a reference to learn and understand how the Windows portable execution format works and how to generate such a file using my own compiler.
This means that MASM will only be used early in development and no generated code from MASM will persist in the project nor the shipped product.
My question is whether this will violate my Visual Studio or MASM SDK license in any way?
Especially considering the following from the MASM SDK license:
the MASM SDK License states the following: What you CANNOT do with the MASM32 SDK: 4. "You cannot use the MASM32 SDK to write software for Non-Microsoft Operating Systems." and
Who can use the MASM32 SDK ? "Government Department and any Company and/or Corporation for their personal/internal use and it can be used to develop and distribute or sell software for the Windows Operating System."
But what if I am not using MASM to write the to be shipped project? As I am only using its generated executable as a reference and temporary template. And will not be include in the final product.
Some extra Information:
I am a single developer working on a single machine.
I intend to sell the final product, for multiple platforms.
Final questions:
Are there any license requirements regarding the custom generation of windows executables?
Are the actions described above in any way violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)?
Are there any other legal related things I have to be aware of?
For whomever reads this, thank you for your time and effort.
With kind regards,
Chris Hermanussen