FAQ

• Why did you make Entity Framework open source?

  There is a strong and passionate community of developers that use Entity Framework to write great applications and new frameworks every day. We want to give our customers the peace of mind that comes with knowing that they can directly contribute to the technologies that they depend on. The critical issues you fix and the enhancements you add can then benefit everyone. We hope you are as excited as we are about contributing to a great set of technologies that help millions of developers write great applications.

• Does open source mean Microsoft is reducing its investment in Entity Framework?

  No. We still have the same Entity Framework team which is assigned to the Microsoft Open Tech Hub, who is dedicated to developing new features in the Entity Framework. Going open source is just one more step in our push to 'release early and often'.

• Will Entity Framework still be supported by Microsoft?

  Yes, Microsoft will continue to provide full support for these technologies including providing critical fixes and security patches.

• How does open source affect how Entity Framework is released?

  It doesn’t. Microsoft will continue to regularly release updates to the EntityFramework NuGet package using builds from the open source code base and will continue to sign the builds on NuGet with the Microsoft certificate. Going open source is all about inviting you into the Entity Framework development process.

• Can I contribute code?

  Yes, you can contribute code including features, bug fixes and tests. Please refer to our documentation on contributing to learn how to get started.

• What is Microsoft Open Tech?

  Microsoft Open Technologies, Inc., is a new, wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation to advance Microsoft’s investment in openness. The subsidiary will deliver critical interoperability technologies in collaboration with open source and open standards communities.

• What does SkipStrongNames.exe do?

  The assemblies that are produced by building the open source code base are delay signed. Because the assemblies aren’t signed with the actual certificate we need to disable strong name verification for them, that’s what SkipStrongNames.exe does.

  FYI: Delay signing ensures that the assemblies have the same strong name that they will have when signed with the Microsoft certificate and released on NuGet. Having the same strong name ensures products that build on top of Entity Framework (such as MVC Scaffolding) will work with open source builds.

• Can I log bugs and feature requests for Entity Framework components that are not in the open source code base?

  Absolutely! We’re working to get all the components into the open source code base, but in the meantime feel free to log bugs for any EF component.