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Joan Murt wrote: how you avoid problems/responsibilities when code is changed by the customer?
Have a bullet proof EULA (for what it is worth).
Document your code.
Have working examples and samples that showcase your source code.
Have unit tests for your own source code. (ship them).
Have good technical support.
I'd rather be phishing!
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That depends entirely on the customer.
If they're good people, give them what they need.
If they're @rseholes, be an @rsehole.
If one or the other doesn't come naturally, fake it.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Development manager here. Seems like you might need to differentiate between 2 different things: selling a packaged product and selling source code.
In my experience purchasing products, buying raw source code is rare. But if done, this is a special situation with different terms that say (in essence), "The client is buying the source code. All maintenance and support are now the client's responsibility." This is typically at a much higher price that if you just licensed it to the client. They want to make a customized version of the functionality OR if you're a small shop, they may want the source code in case you go out of business, esp if it's something critical for their operations.
Usually we see the finished product that is a compiled/built application that has an installer or something like that where you cannot see or get at the source code. (And if you do, please look into a code obfuscation product...)
You are starting to hit on the problem in your question. You mention, "how you avoid problems/responsibilities when code is changed by the customer?" You do that with an agreement from the start. If you provide a product, you license it to them and provide support & updates. If they want the source code, then you have no reasonable way of controlling what is done to it over time, making support almost impossible.
But if you want to do this, you can raise the price for the source code as I mentioned before. You can also sell your support services as a consultant to the client with the understanding that the source code is still their ultimate responsibility.
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If they want the source code in case you go out of business, there are code escrow services available (eg here[^], only an example, no recommendation) - I've no idea how to get the source out if you should go bust, but that could offer them the assurance they need.
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If they just want your source code in case you go out of business, a viable solution is to pay a lawyer to keep your source code, so that it is available if they want to buy it in the future from you (or you heirs). I suggest to charge them for the cost of the lawyer an extra cost for you in the case you have to continue to develop the application, so you periodically have to send a copy of the updated sources to the lawyer. This means that this cost cannot be payed just one time, instead it should be considered as a subscription to a service to keep the source updates always available to the customer.
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I wrote an RTOS designed for ARM Cortex-M series processors. Much of its build process modifies source file templates producing code to be compiled. A configuration file specifies the number and sizes of FIFO buffers. Adding a task, or changing its priority or stack requirements modifies multiple files – most often via a generated header file.
It switches tasks quickly and uses minimal ROM and RAM and even works okay on Cortex-M0 products.
I would sell the source code with an NDA that prohibits distribution. Use on substantially similar products is allowed. I.e. first use is the brain of a coffeepot. No second fee for use in a toaster. Extra fee for use as an IoT security appliance or as part of a bowling alley pinsetter.
I expect any sales would begin with a contract to teach about my RTOS followed by hands on assistance in developing the embedded application.
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1. Get the money up-front: at least 20 times the cost of the code in obfuscated form, or in some UI package.
1.a. offer the customer, at the time of purchase, a paid-in-advance yearly maintenance fee to cover new versions of the code with bug-fixes, and/or new features. make it clear that you will not offer this yearly service after the sale.
2. Remove all comments from the code, but do not obfuscate.
3. Put in your EULA attached to the code:
a. support provided only with advance payment for a certain number of hours of your time at a rate you set.
4. In response to inquiries from customer: quote the text in 3.a. to the customer, along with an invoice for said number of minimum hours at rate you specify.
sincerely, Nicolo Machiavelli
«There is a spectrum, from "clearly desirable behaviour," to "possibly dodgy behavior that still makes some sense," to "clearly undesirable behavior." We try to make the latter into warnings or, better, errors. But stuff that is in the middle category you don’t want to restrict unless there is a clear way to work around it.» Eric Lippert, May 14, 2008
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After beating the main quest at the hard level, I restarted a new character in Survival mode[^].
This is so much fun, and much more enjoyable; at first I thought it would be too difficult, as I am not a hard-core player, but all the new restrictions (eat, drink, getting sick, sleep to save..) makes things a more interesting by forcing us to take our time instead of rushing in to do quests.
They did not only added difficulty (bullet sponge), but made the player more powerful (and more with the automatic "Adrenaline" perk).
I just finished the Corvega question at level 11; and I cannot imagine, at this point, do the more battle oriented quests later on (for example the Gunner Plaza area)
I'd rather be phishing!
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The most stressful game I play on the computer is Spider Solitaire. At the easiest setting. (It's the XP version because the Win7 version is butt-ugly.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Spot on. I've got "Favourite Solitaire" on my (android) phone, and I only play Algerian Patience on it (because it's the one at the top of the list).
Stress from work?
OK, it's bound to happen.
Stress from the (ex or otherwise) Missus?
OK, it's bound to happen.
Stress from family events/occurences/tragedies?
OK, it's bound to happen.
Stress from Playing a game?
What the frock are the game developers thinking!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Don't get me started on spiders (shudder and run away and scream like a little girl)
I'd rather be phishing!
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There are twenty-three million games out there*. Why play one more than once?
* OK, I confess: I stopped counting at 21,753,647 -- but there were plenty left to count.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Because out of those 23 million games:
7 million are so old that they don't even run anymore
4 million are just more clones of Match 3, Sudoku, 2048, etc
3 million are pseudo-games that only exist to generate micropayments
2 million are non-web versions of stupid Facebook games
1 million are just [Name] [Sport] 2016, which is just [Name] [Sport] 2015 with different characters
5.99 million just plain suck.
That leaves about 10,000 good games on this planet... If you actually manage to find one, you stick with it until you've squeezed every last ounce of enjoyment out of it.
Disclaimer: All numbers were pulled from a [name] [orifice] Simulator 2016, and have no bearing on reality
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Lookit, if you haven't played and Beaten The Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max Hit the Road, you don't get a say in this.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Ian Shlasko wrote: If you actually manage to find one, you stick with it until you've squeezed every last ounce of enjoyment out of it
Like cough 700+ hours on Civ5 or 500+ hours on X3 or 300 hours on Hearts of Iron or .... cough, cough?
Sometimes I wish Steam didn't keep track of how many hours I've spent playing a game.
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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It's currently my favorite game.
I've played it before, but had to stop because it was just too easy for me, and I strongly dislike easy games. Now, with the Survival difficulty, it finally feels like a proper game, with enough mechanics to keep it challenging.
This time, I only had to nerf my character slightly (1 END, 1 STR) and didn't even need mods to artificially crank up the difficulty, so yeah, pretty happy about it.
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Password requirements and complexity have been around long enough now I wonder if there is a standard code to represent them.
For example, a lot of scheduling tools support CRON. The CRON entry to schedule something for every day and every hour at the 15 minute mark is "15 * * * *". Is there something similar for password complexity instead?
I have to add password complexity requirements to our web app (ASP.Net) and it needs to be configurable. Rather than do it all from scratch I was curious if there was something to give me a head-start.
Cron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[^].
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Explore OAuth[^], reasonable place to start.
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Surely you could just plug in a regex.
veni bibi saltavi
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: Surely you could just plug in a regex.
Oh, God! You have no idea how those word haunt me!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I got one of each of the following today
- One with the obligatory suspicious file attachment, and the subject line of "Build Assemblies"...
- From "NYC National Lotto" declaring that my email address was randomly selected and I won $5.2 million. No file attachment, but wanted some personal info.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-
When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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So presumably you forwarded the attachment from the first to the address from the second, with a message telling them your info was attached? 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Evil! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I hadn't thought of that, but I will certainly try it. Usually, I can't respond to these kinds of emails.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-
When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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What a Superb idea.
Having his drives encrypted may well dissuade scammers from repeating their tricks.
I shall start saving the e-mails.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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