A question....?

[Toltec7]

If I wanna develop a commercial program in C# which I wanna sell to my customers, is it a common practice to include the .NET Framework in the installation of the program to ensure its proper running?

Do I need a special permission to include it and etc...
Anything is welcome... I dunno much about c# so far but I`m very interested in working with it...

[aniskhan]

ur program will need the framework in which u devloped ur application, installed on the customers machine. the framework redistributable packages are freely available for download.

[dglienna]

Include it if you distribute the app on a CD/DVD, but include a link (and let them know) if they are downloading the app. In a few years, most systems will already have the framework installed. Right now, more than a few have v 1.0 while a few have v 2.0.

This assumes that they won't keep releasing new versions in the future, though. If they do, then you'd have to include the version that your app uses.

[MadHatter]

most installers have automatic .net install actions (to detect & install from either a local merge module, or download & install from the net as part of the install process). the one that comes with visual studio does a good job, and there are pre-packaged merge modules for install shield.

IMO, if you're writing .net apps, you need to distribute the framework w/ your app as an optional install (skips it if its already installed)

[boudino]

My opinion: inlcuding .net framework in sntallation of you programm is like to include windows or ethernet card in your installation. .NET framework is esential part of target environment and you can relay on its presence obn customer's machines. dgliena's advice is maybe the best - just include a link, not framework itself.

[Shuja Ali]

I would suggest that you r installer should check whether the Framework is installed or not. And if the correct version is not installed then you should redirect the user to the .NET Framework download web-site where they can downlaod it and install it.

The advantage of this is that if microsoft has released SPs for that framework version, after downloading they will give an option to the user to install those windows updates or SPs.

[Toltec7]

Thank you for your replies. I`ll put it as an optional install (from the CD) if the necessary version isn`t already installed. Relying that people will alredy have it installed isn`t very smart IMO and can lead to big confusions.

Thany folks, that`s all I needed to know.