Do I have to pay a fee to develop or deploy a .NET application?
I have heard that .NET is not free and that I have to pay Microsoft if I develop a .NET application. Is this true? If so:
What do I have to pay?
I'm a subscriber to the MSDN via the Academic Alliance (we download a variety of Microsoft Software products for free, like VS2008 and Windows Server 2008). Do I have to pay for the software that I make with these tools?
What about web apps with ASP.NET? Is there a payment due when I host my application or do I just pay for the technology?
EDIT:
So what you are saying is that it's the same to develop a web application using ASP.NET or PHP (ignoring technical issues, just payment side), all what I have to pay is the hosting fees?
EDIT 2:
.NET rules :)
Solution 1:
There is nothing about .NET that requires you to pay.
Often, you will hear that it is not free, but this is referring to the GNU concept of "Free" as in "freedom", not free as in price (or, in their words, .net is free as in beer but not free as in freedom).
You can use your student license to create .net applications. You can also download VS 2008 Express Edition, which is fully functional to develop.
Alternatively, you can develop in .NET using non-Microsoft products. Mono includes a completely separate, free runtime. There are even free IDEs available, such as SharpDevelop.
--- EDIT ----
Yes. You can use .NET to develop and deploy a website, an application, or anything else. There is nothing in the technology itself that requires payment. The only thing that requires payment is certain tools (such as Visual Studio Professional Edition or the Visual Studio Team Editions). There are lots of ways to develop with .NET for free.
For free ASP.NET development, you have two options. The first is to use the Mono Project's ASP.NET Implementation to run your site. This is completely free, and handles asp.net sites.
However, if you are paying for hosting, your host is paying the licensing fees for Microsoft IIS and the hosting of asp.net sites. The cost to you is included as part of the hosting.
Solution 2:
You have heard incorrectly.
You can develop .NET apps for free. The compilers/SDK are free and can be downloaded from Microsoft. The framework/runtime is free for your users.
The higher end versions of Visual Studio are not free, but Express versions are available for free.
Solution 3:
The .net Framework is free to download and develop against. Visual Studio .net costs money except for express edition, which is free, but includes the .net Framework. The cost depends on the flavor.
ASP .net is similar--you're not paying for the framework, you're paying for a copy of Windows with IIS.
Solution 4:
Developing in .NET is free in terms of cost. The framework and the SDK cost nothing.
The tools you might use to develop a .NET application are not always free. The command line compiler that is included with every .NET framework install is free. The Visual Studio Express editions are free (and can do quite a lot). Visual Studio Standard/Professional/Team Suite is not free, it's an application you need to buy,
Your Academic Alliance versions of Visual Studio (likely Professional) however have specific restrictions. If you develop something using the AA licenced version of Visual Studio, you cannot sell it or use it for commercial purposes, or use it as part of the infrasture of any entity (including your school), until you have purchased a regular licence for the tools you used.
Basically the Academic Alliance licence says you can use the full version of Visual Studio for free, but only for learning or research. If you want to turn your research project into part of a business you'll need to pay for the products you used.
If you are trying to turn your research project into a business startup you might also look at BizSpark. You'll still need to pay your Visual Studio costs (unless you used Express), but Microsoft will cover the costs of all your server licences (Windows Server, Sql Server, etc) in the hopes that your startup will become a successful business (if you are successful after 3 years you need to pay for the tens of thousands of dollars in licences you got for free, if you fail you only lose the $100 enrollment fee)