Back when I used to sell computers, I did not want my customers opening them up and tinkering inside, because they would almost always break something. To keep them out, I used to put labels on the PC cases that said things like "warranty void if removed" or "it's broken now" just to discourage them. Apple took it even further when the Macintosh first came out by changing the screws so people could not open them without a special tool. I understand why companies do this. Customers break things.
But at the same time, I also understand the frustration from the other side. I am a computer nerd, and I liked being able to upgrade my hard drive or add more memory without having to pay someone else 85 bucks to do it for me. If you know what you are doing, you should be able to get inside and make changes without having to jump through hoops. Maybe the solution is a test. If you can pass it, you get access. If not, you leave it to the professionals.
The same concept applies to software. When I used to build databases for clients, I always gave them a locked ACCDE file so they could use it but not make changes. If they found a bug, I would fix it free of charge. But if they insisted on getting an unlocked version, I would give them one under one condition. If they broke something, it was billable at my hourly rate. What I eventually started doing was giving them both versions. That way, they had an unlocked copy in case I got hit by a bus and someone else needed to take over. But if they messed around with it and called me for help, my first step was always restoring the locked version. If that version worked fine and the issue was something they caused, they got charged. Nine times out of ten, they were fine with that.
For those of you who build software, how do you handle this? Do you lock everything down, or do you give clients full access and let them deal with the consequences?
The problem I used to get into also was that by the time I was a few years into my developing career, I had built a library of stuff that I would use in new projects, much like the tech help free template right now. But we're talking a lot of features, like downloading files from the web, and this was back in the 90s when that was not easy to do, you know, and multiple forms and just buttons that automatically did stuff.
So, I would tell the customer that they could either pay upfront for this template, which I think at the time I was only charging like an extra $1000. But again, in 1990s dollars, we're talking that's $4 million today. They had to sign an agreement that they would not give away the code to anyone else because I wouldn't want to see them selling that, which is all my work.
The other option was they could pay for me to rebuild everything from scratch on their dime, which would be a lot more expensive. I'm not going to give away my library that I've spent years building for a two-hour job, where at the time I think I was charging like 30 bucks an hour, which again is like $6 million in today's money.
Thomas Gonder 4 days ago
One of my first bosses told me he wasn't concerned with anyone stealing his rather large auto/truck dealership package. For two reasons back then. It ran on only a few mini computers that were available at the time. It was a small world. The other reason, he had a routine that would strip all the comments out of the code. He could have sent just the compiled code (somewhat like an .accde), but that made it difficult for us to remotely fix a bug, as all we had was dialup. You had to fix the bug manually or wait for a 1/2" tape to get there.
An employee of a client actually went out and sold the copyrighted software to other dealerships. Eventually the companies with the stolen software called for help as there were a few comments that didn't get stripped (the copyright messages). Easy sell to the newer version of the software package. The thief eventually went to prison with a big fine. My boss sent him a care package as thanks for the new clients.
Yeah, a few times I've found some copies of my paid courses online, to which I would, of course, send takedown notices. But once in a while, I've gotten a few people who have said, "Yeah, I found you on so and so's site." But in the end, they did end up bringing customers to me because you find one copy of something like Access Expert 3 online, and you're going to want to find more where it came from.
Back in the day, before software companies gave free trials all the time, they would sometimes benefit from pirated software because people would download a pirated version of something. Maybe when they were broke college students, and then after they graduated and got a job, they realized, "Hey, I liked that software. I'm going to now buy the new version." So that software company might never have gotten a customer if it wasn't for that free pirated version the guy used when he was in college. I'm not endorsing software piracy at all; I'm just saying sometimes it has benefits.
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