Urgent help needed: Licensing snafu following server crash

[D . Thomas Podnar]

On Fri, Sep 21, 2007 at 06:48:48AM -0400, Brian K. White wrote:
> >> Backupedge, gone. (though I would still highly recommend, practically
> >> require it for traditional single_server_no_IT_guy shops.)

Sorry to hear that, Brian.

> > To me, Backupedge is a perfect example of license management that 
> > *doesn't* get in my
> > way.  Their licensing is keyed to the machine's hostname plus the end-user 
> > company's
> > name and address data.  These are unlikely to change when upgrading or 
> > when replacing
> > dead hardware.  Upon initial install, the product runs under a demo 
> > license that is
> > fully functional for 60 days.  Plus they will relicense, no questions 
> > asked, with a
> > simple phone call.  Of course, we're speaking of a company that actually 
> > answers
> > their phone....

Thank you, Barry.

> I have had BE's license break on me when imo it shouldn't have. As in, I 
> paid for a copy, and was only trying to use that paid for copy in approved 
> manner on the same box it was originally installed on, and hadn't used that 
> serial number on any other box. And it required a support phone call to fix, 
> which meant waiting for their business hours to come around. I think it was 
> a hostname change, or rather, a change in what BE resolved as it's own 
> hostname.

Hmm. I guess I'll push back on that.
-  The manual tells you how to install the program.
   If you didn't read the manual, you wouldn't know that.
-  The manual tells you how to run the program.
   If you didn't read the manual, you wouldn't know that.
-  The manual tells you how to register and activate the product.
   If you didn't read the manual you wouldn't know that.
-  The manual says what happens when the system name changes.
   
I get the part about not liking license managers. The truth is, neither do I. I just havent't figured out a better way to handle things. Neither has anyone else, as far as I know.

I sell software that is ESSENTIAL for customers. Although it has never happened, I reserve the right, and need the ability, to notify my customer base if I ever release a product that has a fatal flaw. So I trade valid customer contact information (and money) for a license to use my products on a particular platform.

> And it is true that I don't use BE on most of my boxes,

I'm VERY sorry to hear that.

> But that said, I really have no problem with BE as a product or Microlite as 
> a company. I probably should not have lumped BE in with this group in this 
> context. It sounds like I resent them and really I don't. There are a few 
> different reasons why I don't use BE on most of my boxes but they are mostly 
> simply that BE isn't the right type of product for those boxes. Sort of like 
> how I also no longer use Olympus TuneUP. TuneUP's license is very strict 
> also, although I don't seem to remember it breaking especially easily, or 
> causing functional breakage while the licence was broken (I think the 
> current modified kernel continues to run and continues to have the same 
> tuned-up settings, but merely you can't adjust them any more, other than to 
> revert back to pre-install) but mostly it just doesn't apply to me any more 
> as it is simply a SCO-specific product. BE basically just doesn't apply for 
> most of my boxes, but it's not any sort of fault or failing.

Simply a SCO-specific product? Boy, have you not been paying attention.

Linux represents 41% of my 2007 business (Jan 1 - Sep 15). AIX has another, although smaller, percentage.

I'll put my bare metal disaster recovery and encryption capabilities for Linux against any product you want to name. And our support for storage deveices, D2D and network backups is outstanding.

> Brian K. White    brian at aljex.com    http://www.myspace.com/KEYofR
> +++++[>+++[>+++++>+++++++<<-]<-]>>+.>.+++++.+++++++.-.[>+<---]>++.
> filePro  BBx    Linux  SCO  FreeBSD    #callahans  Satriani  Filk!

We expect to do our jobs well to earn peoples' business, and to be there when they need us. I'm sorry we've failed to do that for you. Certainly I can think of places where we aren't the right product, and we continue to try to improve our products in those areas. 

I'm not sure from your email whether you protect your client's systems with other commercial, or with "free" software. Look at all the dead projects on sourceforge. They go up with great fanfare, and last as long as the original developer maintains interest. Then they die, along with support, while the writer or writers bounc to the next "cool" thing. Not everyone can read sourcecode to solve a customer problem, or make changes when the next operating system update breaks the program.

Kindest regards,
-- 
Tom
  D. Thomas Podnar
  President
  Microlite Corporation
  2315 Mill Street
  Aliquippa PA USA 15001-2228
  724-375-6711
  888-257-3343 Sales
Developers of Microlite BackupEDGE

Remember that a BackupEDGE Certification class will be held November 7, 2007, the day after the 2007 filePro Conference and at the same hotel. See the Microlite home page for details.