[Carnage]

The last Ioncube encrypted product i came across instantly lost a customer. I was really impressed with their product and just before placing an order I downloaded a demo copy to test to see if it would work on my server setup. It was encrypted - this didn't strike me as an issue; but i figured i'd better check that the full version wouldn't be. The reply came back that it was and that there wasn't a version sold that would be open source.

This put me off totally; not having the ability to modify and tinker with software that I've bought is just unacceptable. Aside from the phoning home aspect, the fact that if the devs disappear the software stops, that I can't fix bugs/issues such as XSS/SQl injection flaws; it stops me getting a judge of how well written the software is. For all I know, there could be some hideously inefficient code stuck in the middle of an important part of the script, or worse a purposeful back door.

Amusingly, I'm now considering using vbulletin as a platform to replace the software As with the use of vbadvanced, Vbulletin's subscription system and of cause the forums; I can setup 90% of what i needed this software to do. The rest I can probably put together in a matter of hours. If the tests on my dev board go well, IonCube may have gained Jelsoft another sale.