Johan; thinking out loud.

I will probably start differencing the functionality for registered and unregistered users of jsiPodFetch. Since it doesn’t do much there is not many functions to take out. I will start by directing unregistered users to a downloading page when there are upgrades instead of downloading the new installer automatically. Nag screens are also a viable solution, but I will give that a second thought. Nag screens has converted me from a free rider to a paying customer some times. I have on the other hand completely abandoned software that was a bit too intrusive.

jsiPodFetch is a utility for getting podcasts to your phone or ipod clone. It will create a well ordered playlist and keep track of what shows can be deleted from the media player.

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My upcoming shareware application is almost ready. There is some more testing to be done in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. I am also going to try to run it in Ubuntu using Mono, but that will come after the initial release. I’m arguing with myself about whether I should implement the GUI in WPF in a future release or if I should stay with WinForms so that I can run with Mono.

Apart from testing I still have to implement some sort of licensing system. I would prefer having the keys generated by the PayPal manager I have in PHP so that the sales process can be fully automated. It will take some extra care since an issued key has to work in the future. I can’t upgrade that part of the code without invalidating all issued keys.

My first attempt created a key based on the customers email address. The big flaw with it was that it was only possible to do one check so if someone figured out the algorithm for creating the key I would have free keys online forever. I need to create a license key that I can do several different checks on in different versions of my program.

At the moment I’m thinking of using hashes of GUID’s. That way I can incorporate different GUID’s in different compiles of the program. It will also be possible to include lists of invalid GUID’s both in the application and as part of the automatic upgrade manifest.

The next problem will be to inline the validity checks in my c# code so that the potential cracker has more than one place to shortcut. I don’t believe it will be cracker proof. It just has to be hard enough to stand the first attempt at cracking it.

Hopefully I will make the release early September.

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Since I’m going to release the software as shareware I have to come up with a good incentive for the users to pay for it.
At the moment I’m trying to decide if I should start showing ads when the trial period is over or if I should just make it obvious that they are using unpaid software. Ads could create som revenue, but it might equally well make people sick of the application.

If I stop the application from working then the trial period is over it will probably be cracked in an afternoon even if the user base is small so I think I’ll let people use it even if they don’t pay. Perhaps conscience will win eventually.

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I’ve started developing a small application that I’m going to try to sell as shareware. I don’t think it’ll make me rich, but it would be fun to have the web hosting bills paid and the ability to by an occasional toy.

There is a lot more to do when the program is to be for sale than releasing it on SourceForge. That is perhaps an unfair attitude towrds open source, but I think people have a greater tolerance for weirdness if they didn’t pay for the application.

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