MIT License and how to use

Question

MIT License gives you permissions to use the software commercially without any restrictions. You need only give credit to the author.

What I am going to use for my project (that will be commercial) that uses this license:

VS Code
a bunch of extensions

So I need to credit all of the authors of software I will use to write my own code.

Those are my questions.

Do I need to credit in my case, as I only used the "environment" to code.
Where should I credit, considering that the project won't be open-source. Inside the app under credits?

No, you do not need a license to "use" code. Only to copy and redistribute it. When you distribute your commercial software, are you going to distribute VS Code (in whole or in part) along with your software? If not, then you do need to consider the license to VS Code in that transaction. Similarly, you are "using" (say) Microsoft Windows to run all the programs on your computer that make software. Does that mean you need Microsoft's permission to distribute the software you made? No. — Brandin, Dec 22 '19 at 07:39
By the way VS Code is not necessarily MIT licensed. If you get the binary from Microsoft then it is Microsoft licensed. See If I compile Visual Studio Code from source, is the compiled version licensed from MIT or Microsoft's license? — Brandin, Dec 22 '19 at 07:41

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 22 '19 at 02:07

Using a binary program to develop your own software does not affect your source code under the terms of any open source license.

The open source licenses are about copying all or some of the source code used to make an application or library, in your example that is VS Code, and incorporating that projects source code into your applications source code.

This also means you need to keep track of any libraries you use from your source code, as for example, the GPL considers linking to a GPL library as incorporating its source code into your project. Check whether there is a linking exception applied to any GPL libraries that you want to use.

If your project is compiled from source code that only you have written, then you are free to use any licensing terms you want for your end product and give yourself credit wherever you wish.

One note of caution, if a plugin/extension to your IDE or source code editor is used to "inject" source code snippets into the code you are writing, then you should check whether that code requires you to follow any licensing terms.

MIT License and how to use

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