Protecting your Rev apps - freeware options

[MisterX]

Just a couple notes on my experience.
- Freeware is not rewarded usually.
- Shareware neither
- blocking features = more problems in maintenance
- a demo, light and pro version seems better for all purposes (or budgets)

If you want protection for your efforts, leave the demo downloads and wait
for a pro version purchase request. By far the best examples among many
disable save and print (output) features. They dont block the user from
seeing or using the software and if they really need to save they simply
pay.

But anti piracy features are ALL futile. There isn't one I haven't seen
busted whether hardcoded or based on a physical (CD or dongle) protection or
a serial number. Look at DVD regions and protections - millions wasted in
research for nothing except less sales, disapointed customers who can't play
their dvds, incompatible (obsolete) dvd players, and so on...

I tried the freeware path. Then the shareware path. Im still trying to get a
second paypal donations after months of releases, improvements of many
freewares and sharewares.

The economics of it is sad. In the end, the freeware or shareware author
gets discouraged, changes market or builds limited demos and builds less
free features so the yellow leeches end up loosing anyway! In the end the
leech pays more in effort and time than they would have if they had donated
even just a simple burger menu for the author which would have kept the free
flow of free software - usually better featured than most commercial
softwares!

As many other freeware authors, they give ya instant free software, free
updates, free support, quick feedback and fixes where as commercial products
demand support fees or paying upgrades. Which is more expensive? Plus if you
need a feature, just asking or supporting the user gets you that feature
quite fast - compare THAT to commercial software anytime!

Personally, im quite impressed with how Flstudio.com did it. FruityLoops is
a music hypercard (forget midi software for RunRev!) built over Delphi (PC
only) for music production (GarageBand is just a lame lame music box
compared. They have a free fully working demo (no save) on Tucows. Once you
buy it, all updates are free! You can purchase new plug-ins when they are
released and add them to the whole (eg VSTs or DX effects or synthesizers).
The best of it all is that all updates are also free! They have 3 forums for
chat, files and tech. They are truely formidable and selling extremely well!
Their company started also like RunRev! The music business in this case is
quite like RunRev... 

Last but not least, sponsoring freeware authors also increases greatly their
motivations to make more and better software than what's available.
Remember, the best things in life are free. Your donation is just an
opportunity cost between money your would just waste any day on a wimsy
gadget and better software you could use to improve your computer toolset
the rest of your life and literally for free!

Currently Im going to stop doing freeware and work on better paying
solutions. I will bring out less nitrous plugs in (except in my tool chest
where they currently sprouting like mushrooms!) Maybe later there will be
more utilities seeking users wanting to help out but right now, the best
solution seems to create real executables that you can dump on tucows, and
the larger public.

Imagine I have a lego box. If you contribute to it, you can play with it. It
costs you a few lego pieces only. Then instead of playing with your punny
300 pieces you can play with everyone pieces! Interestingly simple and
devilish metaphor i think because if that was applied to science instead of
patent protection, the sharks leeching on the system and market wouldn't
raise the cost of products and taxes to support the bureaucracy behind.
That's just an iceberg tip in an artic ocean...

Xavier
HyperEconomist too ;)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: use-revolution-bounces at lists.runrev.com 
> [mailto:use-revolution-bounces at lists.runrev.com] On Behalf Of 
> kee nethery
> Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2004 01:12
> To: How to use Revolution
> Subject: Re: Protecting your Rev apps
> 
> Some of the more successful software Kagi sells has some of 
> the lamest protection mechanisms. The successful software 
> authors focus on getting people to to use their software, not 
> on getting people to not use their software.
> 
> Just my 2 cents,
> Kee Nethery
> 
> 
> On Dec 17, 2004, at 2:51 PM, Cubist at aol.com wrote:
> 
> >    IMAO, improving your app's features/interface/etc is a 
> far better 
> > use of your time and effort than working out elaborate 
> copy-protection 
> > schemes that (a) won't work anyway and (b) will piss off your 
> > legitimate users. The question is, do you want to focus 
> your efforts 
> > on the people who are willing to pay you if your app does what they 
> > want, or on the people who will (in all probability) 
> *never* pay you 
> > no matter *what* you do?
> >    Yes, software piracy is annoying. And yes, it would be a 
> Good Thing 
> > if nobody pirated software. So what? Lots of annoying 
> things happen, 
> > and software piracy is one of them. Deal with it.
> > _______________________________________________
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> > use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
> >
> 
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