LINQ on the .NET 2.0 Runtime

There are some "Hacks" that involve using a System.Core.dll from the 3.5 Framework to make it run with .net 2.0, but personally I would not want use such a somewhat shaky foundation.

See here: LINQ support on .NET 2.0

1. Create a new console application
2. Keep only System and System.Core as referenced assemblies
3. Set Copy Local to true for System.Core, because it does not exist in .NET 2.0
4. Use a LINQ query in the Main method. For example the one below.
5. Build
6. Copy all the bin output to a machine where only .NET 2.0 is installed
7. Run

(Requires .net 2.0 SP1 and I have no idea if bundling the System.Core.dll violates the EULA)

It's weird that no one has mentioned LINQBridge. This little awesome project is a backport of LINQ (IEnumerable, but without IQueryable) and its dependencies (Func, Action, etc) to .NET 2.0. And:

If your project references LINQBridge during compilation, then it will bind to LINQBridge's query operators; if it references System.Core during compilation, then it will bind to Framework 3.5's query operators.

In theory yes, provided you distribute the LINQ specific assemblies and any dependencies. However that is in violation of Microsoft's licensing. Scott Hanselman wrote a blog post about Deploying ASP.NET MVC on ASP.NET 2.0 which is similar to what you are wanting to do.