I appreciate everyone's advice on how many machines I should have in
my home or how I should use them. I have a laptop, a "normal" desktop
workstation, and a Mac mini that I use as a DVD player/media center/
automated backup system hooked up to a TV. With media centers
becoming more popular, your notion that "there is no logical third
machine" is going to become less and less true. Apple realizes this
with FairPlay and the iTunes Music Store, which is more flexible and
doesn't impose a 2-machine limit on downloaded songs. (Yes, FairPlay
is limited, but the limit is more reasonable.)
The issue is this: Bare Bones should be honest. I bought a single
user license. If, when I purchased the software, it said UP FRONT I
was buying a two-machine license, I would have less cause to
complain. But for whatever reason, Bare Bones is hiding the fact that
when you buy a single-user license, you're really buying a two-
machine license. Why the dishonesty? Why hide it in the license
agreement, which nobody sees until after the purchase, and which
nobody except for a handful of pedants on this list ever reads
anyway? If Microsoft pulled this kind of bait-and-switch, I guarantee
this group wouldn't be the "amen chorus" it has been today.
Secondly, I did not realize it was incumbent upon me to suggest
reasonable alternatives to Bare Bones' current sales model. I, as the
customer, have a right to say that their current model doesn't work
for me. I did suggest an alternative, and then people complained that
this didn't work for Bare Bones. I forgot that as the customer, my
duty was to ensure that I use the product in a way that satisfies
Bare Bones, not the other way around. Silly me. I apologize for ever
suggesting such a thing.
Bare Bones got it right with Yojimbo. They allow one user to use it
on as many machines as you like. That's the model I would like to see
BBEdit use.
Next time there's a paid upgrade for BBEdit, I will re-evaluate their
license and decide whether my needs can be better met by other
products. Hopefully, by then, Bare Bones will have realized that
there are current and potential customers out there who use the
product in different ways, not just The One True Way Bare Bones
Engineers Have Decided You Must Work. I would happily pay a
reasonable amount more for a license that accommodated my usage
patterns. Right now, that's not an option, because the 10-user
license is overkill and prohibitively expensive, and I simply don't
think it is fair that a "single user" (me) should have to buy TWO
"single user" licenses to the tune of $400 for a text editor.
In the meantime, it is a sunk cost, so I will continue working around
the product's artificial restrictions until it becomes so frustrating
that I'm driven to purchase the much cheaper TextMate.
On May 16, 2006, at 6:06 PM, Greg Raven wrote:
I also think Bare Bones Software should change the slogan for
BBEdit, but only because I do not appreciate the sexual
connotations. I would suggest "It doesn't stink."
However, I'm guessing that changing the BBEdit slogan is not going
to appease the OP, despite the subject he assigned this thread.
I've never run across this issue, even though I use several
instances of BBEdit concurrently, much of the time. We have at
least ten Macs at our home, sharing the same network. I am the only
one who uses BBEdit, and I have it installed only on my PowerMac G4
-- my main machine. On most of our other machines, I've installed
TextWrangler just in case I need to whip up a text file but don't
want to trudge all the way to the room we have set up as an office.
On my main computer, I have multiple user accounts set up, and I
use BBEdit in each of those accounts without problem. This allows
me to switch among projects and keep documents, web pages, e-mail,
addresses and phone numbers, and other materials segregated. For
me, it's more of a pain to try to get something done on a project
without all my associated files, than it is to go to my main
machine when I want to get some work done. If I need a file from
another machine, I log into it and copy it over.
Despite what the OP claims, there is clearly and logically a
difference between a two-computer limit and a three-computer limit.
Two computers might be home and office, or they might be desktop
and portable. There is no "logical" third computer, just as there
is no logical reason for us to have so many Macs around the house.
I fail to see how there could be any realistic mechanism that would
prevent software pirates from using BBEdit on three machines
(paying for only one license), but allow legitimate single users to
run a single license of BBEdit on three or more machines. I do not
feel that it is realistic to have Bare Bones employees contacting
suspected software pirates by phone. Nor do I believe it would be
efficacious to do so.
If it takes too long to quit and re-start BBEdit on a machine you
are leaving, then my guess is that the machine in question is too
slow, and you'd be better off consolidating your projects onto one
(faster) machine. If it's not a question of speed, then what's the
problem? If you forget to quit BBEdit from time to time, you can
always turn on ARD access on each remote machine, and then use
CotVNC to call up the remote machine and shut down the other
instance(s) of BBEdit. It takes virtually no time at all this way
-- no matter how large your house is.
--
Greg Raven
Apple Valley, CA
On May 16, 2006, at 11:56 AM, Evan wrote:
Hello,
I'm wondering if I'm the only one who noticed a (seemingly) new
"feature" in the latest BBEdit. I use BBEdit on my laptop and two
desktop machines at home. I bought a single user license. That's
because I am one person: the very definition of "single user."
However, I noticed that I am now getting dialog boxes coming up on
my copies of BBEdit if I have them running concurrently on my
machines at home. They say: "Multiple copies of BBEdit with this
serial number are in use on your network. Please ask your
colleagues to quit their copies or quit your copy of BBEdit."
If it could hear, I'd tell BBEdit that I have no "colleagues"
using it...it's just me!
This nag box comes up just about every time I do anything. It
never happened before yesterday. (My network configuration did
change recently, so perhaps that's part of it.)
First off, this is annoying because BBEdit is a rather expensive
program for a text editor. And after using it for YEARS with no
problem (and paying the multiple upgrade fees) on my several home
machines, this new license scheme seems to be implemented without
notice. I am a loyal, paying customer, yet Bare Bones is treating
me like a crook. It's enough to make me start looking into other
options. I'm simply not going to pay $600 for the privilege of
using BBEdit on my three personal machines. I'm sure I'm not the
only home user with more than one machine.
I sure hope they don't implement this scheme for Yojimbo, which I
also used and paid for, because the very cool synchronization
feature allows me to keep data synced between my two desktops and
my laptop.
I'll admit, I didn't read the license agreement (who does?). I
just assumed "single user license" meant what it said: that BBEdit
could be used by a single user--and for years, until now, it did.
I am a single user. Q.E.D.
Has Bare Bones changed their policy? I can find no mention of it
on the website. Is there any hope of switching it back? If not, I
guess it's time to move to something Cocoa-based, like TextMate.
If Bare Bones is going to start doing this with Yojimbo, please
let me know so I don't waste my money on upgrade fees. I love
Yojimbo and would hate to be without it, but I will ditch it in a
second if you think you're going to get me to buy two additional
licenses just for my own personal use.
BBEdit's slogan is "It doesn't suck." I don't know if that's true
any longer.
Please reconsider, Bare Bones!!!
A soon-to-be-formerly-loyal customer.
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a feature request? Not sure the software's working correctly?
If so, please send mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not to the list.
List FAQ: <http://www.barebones.com/support/lists/bbedit_talk.shtml>
List archives: <http://www.listsearch.com/BBEditTalk.lasso>
To unsubscribe, send mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a feature request? Not sure the software's working correctly?
If so, please send mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not to the list.
List FAQ: <http://www.barebones.com/support/lists/bbedit_talk.shtml>
List archives: <http://www.listsearch.com/BBEditTalk.lasso>
To unsubscribe, send mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Have a feature request? Not sure the software's working correctly?
If so, please send mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, not to the list.
List FAQ: <http://www.barebones.com/support/lists/bbedit_talk.shtml>
List archives: <http://www.listsearch.com/BBEditTalk.lasso>
To unsubscribe, send mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
