Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Mon May 31, 2004 6:41 pm

Related to the free upgrade issue...if there was a way to charge for extra "modules" that might be added to eMobius in the feature, that might be another way to handle the issue.

Unfortunately, given the architecture of Zeus and eMobius, I'm not sure how to do this. If the application (eMobius) is just a editable text file (XML) that is interpreted and run by the core Zeus engine, then how does one license a module?

This also effects other people who might be interested in writing other applications using Zeus. If the license is only for running Zeus itself, then there is no way for anyone to sell any application that they write using Zeus because there is no way to license a plain text file.

If I did something like encrypt the text file, then that defeats the whole purpose of allowing end-users to customize the application. So that doesn't sound like a very good idea.

Maybe there is an obvious answer I just haven't thought of, but if you can think of a way to license the text module files that might be a way to handle major upgrades in the future, and would also give a way for other people to sell Zeus applications that they develop.

Wizard Joined: 14 Oct 2000 Posts: 1368

There are probably more issues. You can put e-license on a .exe file but not on a .txt file. That is even if you find some way to license the code of eMobius it would just be a matter of time until it is uploaded, or why not simply download the latest demo and install the new .xml file?

Say you encrypt the .xml file. The probability that someone finds a way to decrypt it is probably pretty high. Some enjoy such challenges.

Wizard Joined: 10 Oct 2000 Posts: 1551 Location: Australia

Same could be said if you wanted to write another program in Zeus, how do you license it without running the risk that someone puts the XML into their emobius folder and gets access to the full program?

I think provided that Zeus still handles DLL plugins then you can license each DLL (somehow?). Like if I was writing a CRM plugin for Emobius and wanted to sell it, I would compile it all into a DLL, including the default XML, and then allow user's to override the XML with their own. I'd hafta deal with my own copy protection too, I guess.

Are DLL's easier or harder to crack? You probably need to compile the Zeus interpreter into a library which you staticly link to Emobius then elicense the whole executable including the default XML files. If you can elicense a DLL, then you can sell individual plugins like that, but if you can't you probably have to build all plugins into the EXE then enable/disable them based on the registration key or something.

With the likes of Zmud, I wouldn't have bought the database plugin, but I would have (did) buy the zmapper plugin... so there is benefits of being able to charge for plugins (or discount for not taking plugins)... but it might make distribution, upgrades, and support more difficult.

Magician Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 459 Location: USA

there could be an obfuscator of some sort which you write your xml file and then 'compile' it via this obfuscator and after which it can only be read by zeus

Adept Joined: 12 Nov 2000 Posts: 268 Location: Canada

Uhh..taken from another thread (I thought there was one about this...)

You could make a system whereby the zeus engine and the zml file are combined together into 1 exe, that can then be seperatly licenced using whatever licencing means available to the developper (obviously eLIcence would have a field day with this, however there are better systems for such things).

Magician Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 459 Location: USA

However, this still defeats the use of the customizable user interface via the xml file.

Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:24 pm

Actually, this issue has already been worked out. There is no way to license the ZML file without defeating the purpose of allowing the end user to customize the application. But I have verified that I can license any DLL file that is needed for the application.

As an example, look at the mailview.zml demo application for viewing your Outlook email. In that case, the file zmapi.dll is needed for the application to run. This DLL has all the low level code for accessing the Outlook MAPI objects. So, I can easily license this DLL file. Without this file, the application doesn't work. And the end user doesn't need to customize anything in this DLL file. So, in that example I could have 2 registration codes: one for Zeus, and one for the ZMAPI.DLL file.

The trick is making this transparent to the user so that from their perspective, they just buy one product (the Email Viewer) and the fact that there are 2 registration codes shouldn't get in the way. But then the developer of Zeus gets money for that registration code, and the developer of the DLL file gets money for their part of the application.

This is the direction I plan to go for 3rd party developers.

Adept Joined: 12 Nov 2000 Posts: 268 Location: Canada

Ahhhhh...ok

That works then..good deal.