Unfair on Developers

[Logikos]

Originally Posted by Alcatomic

In response to all the comments saying "hey, they'll give you license keys!" - I'm afraid some of them won't. My recent client was very access paranoid and I wasn't given much to play with in terms of webspace, and the same was true when he asked me to mod his vBulletin forum.

Why would your client be access paranoid? Just tell him/her to add your email address you used to sign up with here on vB.org, and be done with it. The system will update and vBulletin.org will automatically allow you to start downloading plugins.

There is no reason for your client to be access paranoid. That's just silly, unless your client is nervous to log into his own members account.

Tell your client to add your email address here: http://members.vbulletin.com/membersupport_priority.php He can delete your email address at anytime, by doing so, you will lose access to download plugins.

Other then that, there are alternative sites... vBHackers.com for one.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Originally Posted by Alcatomic

Of course, it could be argued that it could be a situation where a developer was working on an illegally acquired version of the software. In that case, any *legitimate* and honest developer (such as myself, for example) would advise the client to either pay for the license or use a free and open source solution, and would object to working with pirated software until the issue was addressed.

The reason why I don't work with, and don't plan on working on, pirated software is a matter of reputation and professionalism.

And how would you tell if the client is using licensed software or not?

All licensed customers have access to our modifications, and have the option to add 1 or more email addresses to recieve support on our forums.

[hambil]

Originally Posted by Alcatomic

Hi,
I think the fact that you need a license to be able to download or view any of the mods here is proposterous

That's not 100% accurate. You can view all the mods you want. You can search for them, read their descriptions, user comments, etc. You can do all that as a guest. You just can't download them. Everything you need to make recommendations to your client is available to you.

Your client can download any list of mods you give them, at no cost. You can then look over the code if that is a concern before installing. After you've asked them to download yet another mod, they might even change their mind about giving you access.

you have the comment of some coder that does not want to invest to make profits... that's not bad... but then you can't complain about a protocol that work perfectly for the last years ...

if you really want to work for that client, you have to make a deal with him... enter your email in his members area at vb.com will make you available to access all the hacks released here...

you have also to consider to abandon that kind of clients you can't reach... you can't do everything at once. if you don't want to invest a minimal leased license of vBulletin to have access to everything, that's you to blame, not us...

i started that way here... i once leased a license because some commercial client required me to learn the software and create some tools for him... the guy was paying well, so i had the change in return... and now i'm a respected vBulletin coder because i know about every lines of codes from it... and i can tell you that it's better than anyother software, because people are serious clients... i can tell by comparing with Postnuke clients... i'm the Postnuke founder...