CSHTML5 is Now Open Source

CSHTML5, a popular solution for developers who wish to use C#, XAML, and Visual Studio to create web apps, has been open-sourced under the GNU Public License, and its source code is now available on GitHub.

“CSHTML5 – also called ‘C#/XAML for HTML5’ – has become popular among developers as the first production-ready solution to make web apps in C# and XAML,” the announcement notes. “It is also the only tool that enables to port existing Silverlight and WPF applications to the web, by compiling C# and XAML files to HTML and JavaScript.”

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As part of the change, the all of the features that were previously only available in the paid Professional Edition of CSHTML5 are now free to use as part of the new Community Edition release, which is for hobbyists, open-source projects, and academics.

Userware, the maker of CSHTML, is also making a commercial version of the product available so that developers can create proprietary commercial products without the restrictions of the GPL license.

And coinciding with these changes, CSHTML 1.2 is now available with over 40 new features, including support for implicit styles, Themes, and much more.

You can learn more at the CSHTML website.

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Conversation 8 comments

  • mrdrwest

    12 March, 2019 - 4:14 pm

    <p>This is exciting.</p>

  • skane2600

    12 March, 2019 - 5:17 pm

    <p>So, do web apps made with the Community Edition have to be licensed under the GPL? If so, that would seem to dampen enthusiasm for it. </p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      12 March, 2019 - 6:08 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#411696">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yes they do. Unless you buy the other version. Isn't HTML, CSS, and Javascript by default open source since they are just text files anyways?</p>

      • skane2600

        12 March, 2019 - 7:52 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#411713">In reply to lvthunder:</a></em></blockquote><p>Since they bothered to license the tool under the GPL, I'd imagine they didn't find that HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to be sufficiently open source in the GPL'd sense. Unless the GPL only applies to the tooling itself.</p>

    • userware

      14 March, 2019 - 9:59 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#411696">In reply to skane2600:</a></em></blockquote><p>No worries. The CSHTML5 website has just been updated to clarify that the Community Edition is actually "dual-licensed under both the Open-Source GPLv3 license and a custom license that permits closed-source use".</p>

  • christian.hvid

    12 March, 2019 - 6:37 pm

    <p>Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to be getting pretty serious about Blazor, which is basically the same idea, only with HTML + CSS instead of XAML. CSHTML5 seems to be very much targeted at Silverlight developers, whereas Blazor is a more general attempt at loosening JavaScript’s grip on client side web development. </p>

  • dontbe evil

    13 March, 2019 - 2:31 am

    <p>love it .. I hate html/css</p>

  • coeus89

    13 March, 2019 - 4:22 pm

    <p>This is exciting to me because I am currently in school learning about C# and .net websites.</p>

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