When developers shoot themselves in the foot

< Next Message | Back to archived message list | Previous Message >

Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 3323

Posted by zeoli
2005-05-25 07:48:09

Sometimes software developers seem way too concerned about protecting themselves from illeagal users. Yes, there are unethical people who will abuse the trial system and not pay, but I believe most people are honest, and those that are not are unlikely to buy a license anyway.

The reason I brought this up is that I recently received an e-mail from the developer of Literary Machine with instructions on how to upgrade to the new version. I reproduce those instructions here (I’ve Xed out the two passwords and changed the URLs):

HOW TO INSTALL THE LM PRO 2.2 UPGRADE

1. Choose File > Back Up To File. (After your database
files are backed-up, LM asks whether you wish to continue
with a back-up of the files referenced by your projects.
Choose “No.” Then it asks whether you wish to back-up
your outlines. Choose “No” again.)

A. Download the update ZIP-file at
http://www.literarymachine.com/lm/xxxxx.zip
or
http://www.sommestad.com/lm/xxxxxx.zip

Make sure that you get the whole file. “Open” instead
of “Download” often works better in Internet Explorer)

2. Use WinZip or a similar utility program to unzip the files
in the update package to the LM Pro program directory.

B. To unzip this package, supply the ZIP-file password
“xxxxxxxxx” (without quotation marks) when prompted.

3. Choose to overwrite existing files.

If you are upgrading from version 2.2, you are done -
go directly to 8. below.

If you are upgrading from 1.4 or an older 2.x version,
continue with steps 4 through 7.

4. Navigate to the program directory and find the folder
named DB. Set it aside by renaming it DBOLD (“old DB”.
This DBOLD\ is in fact an alternative backup
of your data.)

5. Start LM. New password = “xxxxxxx”

Note: If you ever get trouble with password checks,
clear the lines with registration id and password
stored in the setup file “lmsystem.ini”. (Or delete
“lmsystem.ini”).

When LM detects the absence of a folder named “DB,”
it will create a new one and create new database
files with the proper structure.

6. Restore the backup you just made as a first step.
Bypass warning for errors, if any.
While importing those files, it will upgrade
them to handle version 2.2 features.

7. Once you have LM up and running with your backup restored,
you can delete DBOLD.

8. On the first start after an upgrade, LM prompts you for a
password. Enter the one given in the email that informed
you of the update.

END

Admittedly, some of this is based upon the realities of the program he’s developed. But he has added extra steps just to protect his software. It just seems so complicated, I won’t even bother to upgrade… sure, if I used the program a lot I might. My days are complicated enough without this!

Steve Z.

Back to archived message list