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I sell two Mac Apps. For the Mac app store versions I have no copy protection at all. For the version I sell on Fastspring, I use a library called Aquatic Prim

I sell two Mac Apps. For the Mac app store versions I have no copy protection at all. For the version I sell on Fastspring, I use a library called Aquatic Prime, which uses public key cryptography to validate license files. It's integrated with Fastspring, so that's convenient. I've had a couple of customers where Aquatic Prime failed for hard to debug reasons -- I think the issue was that they had names with special characters that caused sorting issues. If I'd do it again, I'd probably do something simpler, since bugs in license validation code are really bad. I wouldn't worry about piracy or cracked versions. Someone did crack my apps, but it doesn't seem to affect sales. The only people who care about cracked versions of my app are shady companies promising to get rid of cracked versions by sending takedown requests on my behalf. I wonder if those guys cracked my app in the first place... EDIT: You asked about missing features. It would be nice if business customers had a way to see how many licenses they are using, and they should be able to easily buy additional licenses. However, building such a system would probably be very complicated and not worth the effort.

ezekg 10y ago
So you want a way for your customers to easily see and manage their licenses, and to be able to easily purchase additional licenses? Do you machine-lock licenses for your app, or are they allowed to float between machines?
- jakobegger 10y ago
  There is no online activation, so customers can reuse license files as often as they want. That's why most customers don't bother buying additional licenses beyond the initial order, since it is a hassle to figure out how many licenses they are using. Most of my customers are individuals, so the problem isn't as bad as it sounds. I'm not sure building a complicated licensing system would be worthwhile; the potential additional sales are probably not enough to justify the effort. In case someone suggests a service that handles licensing for me: I won't buy it. If I wanted lock-in, I'd stick to the Mac App Store.
  - ezekg 10y ago
    Is there any particular reason you wouldn't use a service that provides this? Aren't you already vendor-locked to your payment provider, or is that not as tightly integrated? What if the service did on-premise/self-hosting?
    - jakobegger 10y ago
      I could walk away from Fastspring any day (I don't have subscriptions). I guess the most important part is that everything would need to happen on my domains; there can't be any other people's domains in my code (eg update checking), that would make me too dependent. I don't care about on-premise or self-hosting or cloud or whatever. I care about lock-in. I plan to keep my company around for many years. At some point some of the services I use will go away or get too expensive or become crappy or whatever. That goes for web hosting, SVN hosting, mail server, payment provider, etc. That's why they need to be interchangeable. I pay for services that add convenience; I don't pay for services that lock me in.

ezekg 10y ago

So you want a way for your customers to easily see and manage their licenses, and to be able to easily purchase additional licenses? Do you machine-lock licenses for your app, or are they allowed to float between machines?

jakobegger 10y ago
There is no online activation, so customers can reuse license files as often as they want. That's why most customers don't bother buying additional licenses beyond the initial order, since it is a hassle to figure out how many licenses they are using. Most of my customers are individuals, so the problem isn't as bad as it sounds. I'm not sure building a complicated licensing system would be worthwhile; the potential additional sales are probably not enough to justify the effort. In case someone suggests a service that handles licensing for me: I won't buy it. If I wanted lock-in, I'd stick to the Mac App Store.
- ezekg 10y ago
  Is there any particular reason you wouldn't use a service that provides this? Aren't you already vendor-locked to your payment provider, or is that not as tightly integrated? What if the service did on-premise/self-hosting?
  - jakobegger 10y ago
    I could walk away from Fastspring any day (I don't have subscriptions). I guess the most important part is that everything would need to happen on my domains; there can't be any other people's domains in my code (eg update checking), that would make me too dependent. I don't care about on-premise or self-hosting or cloud or whatever. I care about lock-in. I plan to keep my company around for many years. At some point some of the services I use will go away or get too expensive or become crappy or whatever. That goes for web hosting, SVN hosting, mail server, payment provider, etc. That's why they need to be interchangeable. I pay for services that add convenience; I don't pay for services that lock me in.