Shareware Starter Kit Demo

Can we expect support to be added for the Express editions (as that is what most shareware devs will be using anyway)?

And is this kit going to remain free?

Does the kit automate retrieving lost activation keys (re-activation)?

Edit: You tricked my into posting in the PDC05 Forums! Now I am dirty... ... .. SoOOO very dirty..  

Hmmmmm... Would this "Michael Lehman - Channel9 Podcaster" Happen to be the second new 9Teamer? If not, put him on anyway I don't know who wrote the script for the first podcast, but it was really cool. The way he spoke made it that much better.



I want C# Express Support! (Ignore the other Express products )
Loadsgood.

There's a Nine Guy lying dead in the background :o :o :o

(or is he just sleeping? )

Yes, sleeping without a head uhh now go to sleep kiddies.

Beer28 wrote:

hmmmmmm....

I bet the web side will be recoded with php/mysql (LAMP) about 10 minutes after the release considering what most webservers run.

Hijacker, hijacker!

So you think this kit is worth trying? You, the Linux Guru?

Beer28 wrote:

hmmmmmm....

I bet the web side will be recoded with php/mysql (LAMP) about 10 minutes after the release considering what most webservers run.

I can understand making it work with mySQL, but why rewrite it in php? If you have a Linux web server, then just run it on Mono!

Cool.  Does the product Key registration use some kind of PKI to verify the key and machine hash is valid for machine on each startup of the app.  Or how is the license done/verified/etc.  Also, could C9 host the server part and use paypal and CC processing?  TIA

This kit does keep track of each successful activation of a product.  When the app using the license and activation functionality of the SSK is run for the first time it hits the licensing web service to see if the particular machine has been activated before.  If it has then the license is sent back to the client.  If not then the client is put in "trial" or shareware mode.  A customizable WMI query is used to get hardware specific infomration to uniquly identify client machines.  By default the #1 processor serial number is used.

I registered Sharewarestarterkit.com as we have plans to host the web service and database for developers.  There will be a web interace allowing you so see registrations, error reports, license activations, etc.  It's currently under development and should be ready in a beta state within a few weeks.

Here are the brief steps for generating and verifying a license. 

Step 1: The requested license level, product name, and specific machine attribute are hashed together and sent to the license web service.
Step 2: The server verifies that the license request is valid and the client has paid.
Step 3: The server uses RSA to sign the client hash with the server private key.
Step 4: The server returns the signed key to the client.
Step 5: The client validates the license key with the server public key.

"Here are the brief steps for generating and verifying a license. "  Cool.  I thought the CPU serial was not very reliable as sometimes it is empty or something on Intel chips.  Also, I think WMI is bone slow, so maybe a pinvoke would be better (maybe not).  Thanks for the reply.  Cheers.

"I think they did this about 5 years too late though. And I don't think it's better late than never. Windows is saturated in the client space, and UI updates for Longhorn I fear are not going to help generate revenue for small software titles. I fear that this application, while an excellent idea, is coming too little too late."

Huh? As long as their is Windows, there will be new and updated shareware titles.  Just have a look at shareware.com and webattack.com.  No slow down I see.  I think it is a great idea.  In fact, so good, I did the same thing and can toss it now that MS is doing it for free. O well.