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Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

itunes.apple.com

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Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#81

Post by _delirium »

adsr wrote: post #43
tensor wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, Apple's gcc is still the recommended version. Hopefully solid non-apple gcc packages come out. I don't like the idea of paying $5 to apple to develop generic unix applications on OS X.

Apples GCC is available for free, or llvm/clang. The $5 is for the IDE. And this is for the preview only so far, as far as I can tell.

Apple's gcc isn't available from Apple in an installable form outside of XCode, though. Their version on opensource.apple.com is just the source, so somebody else would have to host a binary. Definitely doable, but will be a change from the current practice, which is to expect users to have an Apple-supplied compiler binary.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#82

Post by plusbryan »

earl wrote: post #69
joshfraser wrote: post #58

Seeing this reminded me of a Microsoft focus group I was invited to be a part of a few years ago. As a CTO who had decided to build everyone on top of free software, they wanted to know what it take to make me to switch to a Microsoft stack. I told them they were 10 years too late. You see, I made the decision to use LAMP stack not because it was cheaper, but because it's what I knew. And the reason I knew LAMP stack…

Considering that you still need a mac, I don't see how much difference it makes. Note that I still think it's a terribly stupid idea.

Right, but who bought them that mac?

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#83

Post by [deleted] »

kylelibra wrote: post #13
rbanffy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree it's still quite cheap, I wonder why Apple suddenly decided to start charging almost nothing for something that used to be free. I don't see the price tag having any impact in the iOS/OSX software ecosystem, so, why are they bothering to charge for it?

One guess would be that they didn't want a 3gb app constantly being downloaded by people who wouldn't use it for more than 30 seconds. I realize bandwidth is incredibly cheap, but we are always hearing talking of Apple trying to offset costs, maybe this factored into the thinking?

[deleted]

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#84

Post by dchest »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #40
pilif wrote: post #26

Once the old free Xcode 3 has vanished, this neatly puts an end to stuff like Homebrew or MacPorts. I really don't care about paying the $4, but for many people without credit cards or unwilling to use iTunes/the app store, OSX just has become a lot less useful.

You can buy an iTunes card at most pharmacies.

(in the US)

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#86

Post by rbanffy »

kprobst wrote: post #65
jarin wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can understand how the cost of a Happy Meal might deter someone who wants to try their hand at coding. I mean seriously, you're going to spend at least 10 times that amount on programming books, or thousands of times that amount on college classes.

There are vast numbers of young people out there that either don't have $5 or have no way to pay for something online even if they had the money. The potential pool of software developers isn't (and shouldn't be) limited to the US and Europe.

Kids in places where the App Store doesn't reach still can buy Macs from channels other than Apple, they can buy and borrow books and teach each other. They can't download Xcode 4 unless they have an account with Apple, a valid credit card (issued in the right country) or a couple of iTunes gift cards.

This is a step in the wrong direction.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#87

Post by FirstHopSystems »

This is just the beginning. Apple is in the position of "Your going to take it, and your going to LOVE IT." What are you going to do? Not develop for iOS/OSX with Xcode? Bwahahaha. Don't forget apple is a large public corp. I don't think making less money is in the plans.

This is just a small part of the plan. Just wait until you have to be in a Apple approved facility, wearing apple approved developer uniforms to independently program anything for Apple.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#89

Post by potatolicious »

jonursenbach wrote: post #73
igrekel wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right... and 5$ is hard to pay when your a teenager, just because you don't have a credit card yourself.

Teenagers might not have credit cards, but they receive iTunes gift cards as gifts, which they can now use on Xcode.

I'm trying to think of what would've happened if I had to ask my parents for their credit card every time I had to download some tool when I was a kid just messing around with programming.

I probably wouldn't working in the field today, that's for sure.

Re: Xcode now costs US$ 4.99

#90

Post by uxp »

earl wrote: post #69
joshfraser wrote: post #58

Seeing this reminded me of a Microsoft focus group I was invited to be a part of a few years ago. As a CTO who had decided to build everyone on top of free software, they wanted to know what it take to make me to switch to a Microsoft stack. I told them they were 10 years too late. You see, I made the decision to use LAMP stack not because it was cheaper, but because it's what I knew. And the reason I knew LAMP stack…

Considering that you still need a mac, I don't see how much difference it makes. Note that I still think it's a terribly stupid idea.

When talking about teenagers (the 15 to 19 year old crowd), they may not be the ones buying the Mac directly.

I also think this is an unnecessary and dumb idea.

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