Re: Business models

["Mark Collins" <me@thisisnurgle.org.uk>]

> That's a very exhaustive list, but it doesn't mention time-bombed
versions.
> I think giving out a time-bombed version for free that can be unlocked
with
> a key (sold cheaply over the web) is a good and fair business model, but
...
> I don't know how to write a time-bomb without accessing a file the user
> cannot access. On Windows they always have the registry to help with this,
> but on Linux ... does one hide the file from the user in some
out-of-the-way
> place? I'd consider that somewhat unethical.
>
> Any ideas how to do time-bombs in regular code that would work on Linux?

Hardcode it into the binary with a searchable identifier and modify the
binary itself when the program is registered, a bit like this:

===
char string[] = "HASHKEY0000-0000-0000-0000"

main() {
    if (isValidHashKey(string)) {
        // registered version
    } else {
        // shareware version
    }
}

// Register
void Register() {
    if (shareware) {
        // Do a grep for HASHKEY0000-0000-0000-0000 in binary
        // CHange 0000-0000-0000-0000 to valid key
    }
}
===

It's risky, but it works, and a lot harder to notice than a hidden
file/registry entry.


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