Need more than two authorized computers

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hi,

Why is the number of authorized computers limited to only two per developer license?

I have two computers (Win and Mac) at home that are already authorized. Now I have another Windows computer at my office that I wish to authorize, and I will probably also end up with another Mac pretty soon. And I really don’t want to have to remember to deauthorize/authorize my computers at home and at the office every single day.

Do I really have to register another license to be able to use more computers? The limitation doesn’t make sense to me at all since the licenses are free anyway.

/Markus

#2

While we make the product available for free, we are working on our store and when plugins become available for sale, plugin partners will need to have a way to limit licensing to individuals.

Rob

#3

That doesn’t make sense to me. The license is still individual, right? That doesn’t mean that there has to be a limit of only two authorized computers per developer license. 

#4

Still no answer to why you feel that two computers should be enough for one developer?

As I said in my previous post, I don’t buy the plugin partners argument. If you’re worried that developers will start sharing licenses to avoid paying for plugins I think you need to reconsider. I believe that most developers who are serious about their projects will also be willing to pay for good plugins, and won’t even consider hijacking or borrowing someone elses license just to save a few dollars.

Anyone who builds apps for both iOS and Android has to have two computers, as you know. Limit reached. What if a computer breaks down? Or if you’re away on a trip without your computers and need to release a hot fix asap? Or if you (like myself) simply has more than two computers for development? 

From my point of view, I don’t see any reason at all to have a hardware limitation. A valid license per individual should be enough. If you don’t trust the average Corona developer enough to do it this way, I hope that you can find some other solution to your “problem”.

Remember that the developers are your customers and focus on what’s best for them. No developers, no need for plugins. 

Markus

#5

I’m not disputing your points Markus, but as a short term workaround for your own situation could you not create a second account and use that one for the machines at your workplace?

#6

Alan, I already did that. Works fine for now. I just wanted to address the problem since I think it affects most developers in a negative way.

#7

Honestly, I don’t have any other answer to give you. We allow two per email address. We have no plans to change that in the near future. This is a model followed by many software companies. For instance you can install Adobe Photoshop on two computers as long as you are only using one at a time.

Rob

#8

The reason is Corona Basic and Pro were a paid product that limited you to two computers per license. Most of Corona is now free but Enterprise is a paid product and does have a two computer limit. The authorization code on our backend servers  is shared between the subscriptions levels which is why we still have the two computer limitation. There is currently no plans in the works to change this because of the work involved and the support issues if it breaks something. You can create a new user account for your additional computers.

#9

Tom, thanks for your explanation. I’m fine with having two user accounts as of now, even though it feels wrong. I hope you can figure out a workaround for the paid plugins problem for those who need more than two computers. 

#10

I’m not sure there will be a work-around for paid plugins and the two computer limit. The original reason for the limit of two computers was to not allow sharing of the license among other users. I’m not sure it would be fair to our plug-in developers if one user buys a plugin and can allow others to use it for free. I realize that the two-user limit doesn’t stop that from happening completely, but it does provide some limits. 

#11

While we make the product available for free, we are working on our store and when plugins become available for sale, plugin partners will need to have a way to limit licensing to individuals.

Rob

#12

That doesn’t make sense to me. The license is still individual, right? That doesn’t mean that there has to be a limit of only two authorized computers per developer license. 

#13

Still no answer to why you feel that two computers should be enough for one developer?

As I said in my previous post, I don’t buy the plugin partners argument. If you’re worried that developers will start sharing licenses to avoid paying for plugins I think you need to reconsider. I believe that most developers who are serious about their projects will also be willing to pay for good plugins, and won’t even consider hijacking or borrowing someone elses license just to save a few dollars.

Anyone who builds apps for both iOS and Android has to have two computers, as you know. Limit reached. What if a computer breaks down? Or if you’re away on a trip without your computers and need to release a hot fix asap? Or if you (like myself) simply has more than two computers for development? 

From my point of view, I don’t see any reason at all to have a hardware limitation. A valid license per individual should be enough. If you don’t trust the average Corona developer enough to do it this way, I hope that you can find some other solution to your “problem”.

Remember that the developers are your customers and focus on what’s best for them. No developers, no need for plugins. 

Markus

#14

I’m not disputing your points Markus, but as a short term workaround for your own situation could you not create a second account and use that one for the machines at your workplace?

#15

Alan, I already did that. Works fine for now. I just wanted to address the problem since I think it affects most developers in a negative way.

#16

Honestly, I don’t have any other answer to give you. We allow two per email address. We have no plans to change that in the near future. This is a model followed by many software companies. For instance you can install Adobe Photoshop on two computers as long as you are only using one at a time.

Rob

#17

The reason is Corona Basic and Pro were a paid product that limited you to two computers per license. Most of Corona is now free but Enterprise is a paid product and does have a two computer limit. The authorization code on our backend servers  is shared between the subscriptions levels which is why we still have the two computer limitation. There is currently no plans in the works to change this because of the work involved and the support issues if it breaks something. You can create a new user account for your additional computers.

#18

Tom, thanks for your explanation. I’m fine with having two user accounts as of now, even though it feels wrong. I hope you can figure out a workaround for the paid plugins problem for those who need more than two computers. 

#19

I’m not sure there will be a work-around for paid plugins and the two computer limit. The original reason for the limit of two computers was to not allow sharing of the license among other users. I’m not sure it would be fair to our plug-in developers if one user buys a plugin and can allow others to use it for free. I realize that the two-user limit doesn’t stop that from happening completely, but it does provide some limits.