On Thu, 7 Oct 1999, Dominique Busso wrote:
> Answer to "Alan Beattie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) - message date: 6/10/99 13:13
>
> Thanks Alan for your answers.
>
> >> 2) has someone already use an external protection key (like the Rainbow
> >> Sentinel...) with Metacard? What would be your recommandation (needed for
> >> Mac and Windows)?
> >
> >Can you elaborate on what you are trying to do here?
>
> We have a customer who would like us to copy-protect his MC application
> using a "physical key" (like the Rainbow sentinel), that you plug on the
> seria port. We used the Sentinel key on a mac wihtin SuperCard (there is
> an xcmd). My question is, because this is Metacard and we are
> cross-plateform (even Unix would be good), what would be a good choice in
> terms of external key to use within Mecacard on Mac, Windows, and Unix?
> (even is the physical keys are different).
Alan's suggestion about trying the HC/SC external on the Mac is a good
one: it may just work. If it doesn't, you'll probably need to build a
MetaCard-specific XCMD with the dongle-check calls in it.
I've never heard of anyone using a dongle on a UNIX system. What's
typically done instead is to use "node locking" and/or a license
manager. Both work by checking a unique serial number found in all
workstations. Usually people do the check in an external (even more
secure is to do it in Embedded MetaCard), but I have heard of a few
cases where people just do it by running a standalone executable from
shell() or open process.
For Windows, you might be able to use the shell() method, but more
likely you're going to have to build a custom external for it.
All in all, though, my personal opinion is that dongles and license
managers are more trouble than they're worth. They're expensive, take
a lot of development time to implement properly, and will likely
double or triple your tech-support burden for the protected products.
Not to mention the hassle they cause your customers. I'm also
guessing that they're on their way out, to be replaced by some sort of
Internet-based license manager protocol (e.g., the app connects to one
of your servers on start up and periodically thereafter. If it can't
get through, it operates only for some limited amount of time before
shutting down).
Regards,
Scott
> Dominique BUSSO
>
> www.openmind.fr
> OpenMind International
> ______________________
>
********************************************************
Scott Raney [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.metacard.com
MetaCard: You know, there's an easier way to do that...
