I just can’t believe it!
Lutz Roeder is handing .NET Reflector over to Red Gate Software!!! I know that it had to be a challenge to build and support a product for free for eight years, but this is a tool that a great many of us have come to rely on. Lutz says in his blog:
"After more than eight years of working on .NET Reflector, I have decided it is time to move on and explore some new opportunities.
I have reached an agreement to have Red Gate Software continue the development of .NET Reflector. Red Gate has a lot of experience creating tools for both .NET and SQL Server. They have the resources necessary to work on new features, and Reflector fits nicely with other .NET tools the company offers.
Red Gate will continue to provide the free community version and is looking for your feedback and ideas for future versions."
I have reached an agreement to have Red Gate Software continue the development of .NET Reflector. Red Gate has a lot of experience creating tools for both .NET and SQL Server. They have the resources necessary to work on new features, and Reflector fits nicely with other .NET tools the company offers.
Red Gate will continue to provide the free community version and is looking for your feedback and ideas for future versions."
I’ve been in this business for a great many years and have seen stuff like this happen before (does anyone remember PKZIP?). I can only hope that RGS lives up to the intent of the agreement and doesn’t basterdize the free version to force you to buy a usable version. I have so much great respect for the great yet humble Lutz Roeder. Even if RGS does what I suspect they will do with it, LR has created a legacy that almost every single .Net developer out there today has been positively affected by.
Thank you, Lutz, for 8 years of a great tool and great support. And thank you for helping me learn so much about the .Net Framework internals as a result.
Happy Coding
John Howell 