Stick to your guns Aaron.
OSS software has it place, but its not a way for programmers to make a
living. If the OSS hot heads out there took a look at a majority of the OSS
projects out there, they will find that they are instigated by hobbyists
(that have alternate sources of income), or through academic (university)
projects.
The big name OSS projects Linux (and its variants), Mozilla (and what will
soon become its multitude of variants), and StarOffice have either had large
corporate backers to keep the programmers fed and happy, or been run by a
group of fanatics/fanatics that derived their income from other sources (so
they could put in time to code for kudos).
Registration schemes need to be easy for the user to implement. The users
that want the software and regularly use the software will be the ones that
buy it - everything should be geared so that its convenient for them to
register. Users that don't pay won't pay - nothing can encourage that.
I wonder how many of the people on this list (shudder) talk to accountants
or marketing types about their software distribution? This begs the question
of : What price do I put on my IP??
Answer 1 : I am after kudos and recognition by my peers so am distributing
freely to my grateful public.
... Great go OSS, release your product as freeware.
... Security measures (unless really k00l and appealing to 31337 h4x0rs)
should be non-existent. What are you protecting? You gave the damn thing
away didn't you?
Answer 2 : Its a small program, but took a long time to develop, so I will
price it low and go for volume sales because I know EVERYONE will just need
a copy.
... Widespread distribution , minimal cost to the user, minimal security and
registration hassles.
... Nag screens OK. May some time crippling, may be some feature crippling
until registered, but keep it simple otherwise no-one will bother to buy.
Answer 3 : I have significant time and knowledge tied up in this program,
and it really does appeal to a more select group of users.
... Small distribution, more substantial cost to the users (ho much depends
on what you think the market will bear).
... Hmm, pretty much sounds like commercial software. Might be nice to let
users evaluate the software first (time crippled) or have access to a
majority of features (feature crippled). But registered users need to be
safe in the knowledge that their significant investment wont be appearing as
a free download on some hacker website in 2 months time.
Time to add this thread to my kill file (at least most messages have only
appeared once, even if the same arguments keep appearing 8^).
CSE.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Aaron
> Ardiri
> Sent: Thursday, 26 October 2000 11:33 AM
> To: Palm Developer Forum
> Subject: Re: FAQ fodder: "How do I implement registration / etc.
>
>
> > Palm Inc. seems to have found another golden mean with PalmOS - the
> > source (partially) is available under NDA, and the apps are open.
> > I think they are making money :). Wither CE? [A. yes].
>
> this is a very nice solution. the source is only opened to people
> willing to sign an NDA, and with the NDA, Palm has more power to
> legally prosecute those who break the rules.
>
> > Please write a review here. I would like to know what you
> found helpful.
>
> heck, why dont you read it yourself. there will be SOURCE CODE there,
> oh my... will this qualify as OSS? (open source)? it wont be a paper
> saying:
>
> "this is an idea, and.. it failed"
>
> it will be more like:
>
> "this is an idea, and.. this is how it is implemented (source
> code included).. and, this is what the crackers/hackers do
> to get around it".
>
> of course, not to much detail will be put on "how to get around it"
> i dont want it to be a cracking tutorial, but it will be beneficial
> to explain in basic terms the techniques they use.
>
> opening up how they do it, may allow others to open their minds to
> new and exciting ideas (if they want to continue the work). i will
> express the findings i have found how best to implement some form
> of protection mechanism - without being to harmful to the users.
>
> but yes, crippleware sucks.
>
> > > I don't understand this statement.
> >
> > If people are paying several thousand dollars to fly to palmsource
> > just to figure out how to do licensing (as the original statement
> > implied, but has fallen off the context, in effect the *ONLY* thing
> > stopping a hobbyist from developing something and being a pro is
> > licensing and protection), I can provide the same information for
> > several hundred.
>
> this is not the intention of the paper.
>
> > While I think the paper will be interesting, to say that protection is
> > such a crucial matter that people will be spending a lot of money to
> > fly to california near the holidays just to discover the rosetta stone
> > in this one paper which will unlock the palm economy is a bit much.
>
> the paper is just given out at PalmSource.. it will be made available
> for "normal" people to read after the conference. i will make it
> available in HTML and PDF on my website (hopefully soon after) for
> everyone.
>
> there is no "presentation" to be given either.. i will attend
> PalmSource, and, the paper will be handed out (made available)
> when you get there. if there is enough demand, it might be cool
> to organize a session to discuss issues or elements of the paper
> in one of the later days of the conference.. who knows.
>
> tom, i dont take your attitude harshly on this matter, but - i think
> the discussion has gone way off topic in relation to what will be
> discussed in the paper.
>
> now, may i go on with c+p'ing code snippets into the paper so
> people can at least see how some systems are implements specifically
> for the Palm Computing Platform? (which is the real intent of the paper)
>
> cheers
>
> // az
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.ardiri.com/ <--- free games!
>
>
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