Best approach?

[Annik]

I voted free with trial of premium features. They'll get the whole, shiny version and might be more inclined to get their premium features back while simultaneously spreading the freeware version of it. I think people would be more willing to download a product they don't have to pay for or don't have to go through the trouble of torrenting.

[Darwinian]

I voted free with trial of premium features. They'll get the whole, shiny version and might be more inclined to get their premium features back while simultaneously spreading the freeware version of it. I think people would be more willing to download a product they don't have to pay for or don't have to go through the trouble of torrenting.

And that's exactly what I've gone for.

[Cinjin]

Darwinian NEEDS to know what the free experiences HAS to be like before he can score in the PREMIUM market.

Perhaps he needs to know, but we definitely disagree. A product is a product is a product. XBox doesn't give away the first million software games to see if people like them. People buy products that they have never used before all the time. We look for incentives - sales, discounts, but most importantly the application itself. Perhaps Darwinian's program is far superior to all the shareware bull shit that's out there. Maybe his product will speak for itself if only he allows a user to try a tiny version of it for free. Allowing users to have the whole thing scott free, with nearly nothing stripped down is a poor decision in my mind. Here's why:

You're talking to a guy who has used dozens of free media manipulators of all sorts. I have never and will never pay for one again because there are so many programmers out there that have your mindset. Get people to use it and then show the rest of them the pricetag later. Does it work? Yes, at times, but everyone on this planet knows you get what you pay for, and the mere fact that you're charging a fee for something often tells people you've got a quality product worth paying for.

I don't do gigs for cheap ... you know why? Because somewhere in their minds everybody knows that quality comes with a pricetag.

Notoriety is great. Cash is better.
My suggestion. Offer a severely dumbed down version of your program and really push the awesome extras that they could be using for a fee. Also, there is nothing wrong with listing all the things that other programs can't do and then adding at the end, "...we can."

That shit sells. I'm like most shareware users. I'm never paying for something that I could always get for free, but I will definitely pay for something thats far superior to all the other products.


EDIT: What the hell ... I just realized Syn, you and I voted the same thing. WTF are we in disagreement about???

[Tiberius]

Your attitude towards FOSS I think.

[Autumnlicious]

I voted free with trial of premium features. They'll get the whole, shiny version and might be more inclined to get their premium features back while simultaneously spreading the freeware version of it. I think people would be more willing to download a product they don't have to pay for or don't have to go through the trouble of torrenting.

And that's exactly what I've gone for.

Never integrate unlocking/etc into your own product that simply toggles behavior... Usually a No-op will suffice to disable. Just waiting for trouble.

Though, to imitate the what the above does, a challenge-response system that downloads a unique binary and replaces certain components via a binary patch would get precisely the same results without giving a hacker code to enable (to 'crack' the shareware version if you will).

Then you can only expose the 'free' version to the world, that 'magically' upgrades itself to the correct version.

[Darwinian]

Never integrate unlocking/etc into your own product that simply toggles behavior... Usually a No-op will suffice to disable. Just waiting for trouble.

Though, to imitate the what the above does

With you so far..

a challenge-response system that downloads a unique binary and replaces certain components via a binary patch would get precisely the same results without giving a hacker code to enable (to 'crack' the shareware version if you will).

Then you can only expose the 'free' version to the world, that 'magically' upgrades itself to the correct version.

And, you've lost me :S

[Napoléon]

I don't do gigs for cheap ... you know why? Because somewhere in their minds everybody knows that quality comes with a pricetag.

What was that you were saying earlier about comparing oranges with apples?

[Autumnlicious]

Ok -- your client will send you their license key and a UUID of their computer. With that, you'll authenticate and respond to the client with a specially generated binary patch.

That patch should be a unique patch that is generated only by license key and UUID. You should deprecate that license key and give them a "new" license key (that they can find in their about and email) -- thus no two licensed programs will be alike. The UUID's are used for analytics and tracking, as well as one fun idea:

The generated binary ONLY works with that systems submitted UUID and that new license key (that you gave to the user! ). If the current UUID + license key hashing fails, then you can force them to resubmit their license key, which (ideally) would return a new binary patch updated to a new license key and new uuid.

It is at that point you can catch someone who submits the same license key twice with completely different UUIDs-- because the flow dictates that there be only one UUID per patch generation, UUID and current license key, with a reference to the previous one. In short, you can detect someone using the same license key on many systems simultaneously from someone who is migrating computers (because they'll install it once per authentication/reauthentication...).

[Darwinian]

I shall consider your words carefully and see what I can do.

Also, I think that whatever the result is at the end of the week is what I shall actually implement as I'm changing my mind more often than a curry addict changes their underwear :S

[Autumnlicious]

Or you can disperse with the entire system and implement license keys as one time keys.

And sell keys cheaply.

That would accomplish the same thing without needing to do the ridiculous hand shake dance.