Community Edition expiring again, no new keys

[hsauro 40]

Of course it’s their product to do as they wish but I would have thought increasing the developer community would be a priority especially for attracting a younger generation. A student or hobbyist isn’t going to pay $1600 when there are other less expensive options. The alternative options tend however to be less productive but the current generation doesn’t know this. 
 

Without a pool of skilled Delphi developers a company will just use other development environments where they can get the expertise. I think the community edition serves an important service and should be directed specifically to those interested in developing open source code or hobbyists who Ike to try out new software. I wholeheartedly agree that if someone makes money out Delphi then they are obliged to purchase the full version. The threshold for making money can be debated, but the current $5000 is a little on the low side I think.

Edited August 2, 2022 by hsauro

[Brian Evans 105]

18 hours ago, Fritzew said:

You are using it for free. What ever they decide to do with her work is only up to them. Why do you think there are rights on your side?
For sure the communication could be better. But... use a commercial version and be a customer and not a consument....
 

I am a Delphi Enterprise user myself. My concern is over the effect poor licensing practices have on the wider Delphi community. Free but you may not be able to use it sometimes burns off some of the goodwill generated from having a community edition for no gain.

[mvanrijnen 123]

22 minutes ago, Brian Evans said:

I am a Delphi Enterprise user myself. My concern is over the effect poor licensing practices have on the wider Delphi community. Free but you may not be able to use it sometimes burns off some of the goodwill generated from having a community edition for no gain.

Yes, they have to put in a licensing model like VisualStudio,  free to use (free version same as cheapest commercial version), and from a revenue of USD xxxxxxx (fill in a number), then you start paying. (okay, have to figure out internal licenses for internal development)

How bigger the community the bigger the paying licenses, but give the people a full unrestricted product. 

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by mvanrijnen

[Brian Evans 105]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:07 AM, mvanrijnen said:

Yes, they have to put in a licensing model like VisualStudio,  free to use (free version same as cheapest commercial version), and from a revenue of USD xxxxxxx (fill in a number), then you start paying. (okay, have to figure out internal licenses for internal development)

How bigger the community the bigger the paying licenses, but give the people a full unrestricted product. 

 

Delphi licensing still follows the decades old model of editions with feature bands at fixed costs + a free version designed to drive sales quickly. Some other companies have successful products with licensing that more directly targets different types of users in more situations growing both the community and revenue. Two examples I am familiar with are Wolfram Mathematica and JetBrains Webstorm. The first has a home edition for a fraction of the price of the full product and the second has a personal / business license split where personal licenses are cheaper vs those purchased or reimbursed by a company. Both manage to capture users and revenue without making the products free or dividing the user base. A lot of such users might never transition to the full ticket products but at least they become users and provide some revenue. 

 

Wolfram Mathematica standard desktop : $3,130 or $1,570/year vs Home edition desktop : $376 or $188/year

Jetbrains Webstorm: $129 first year for organizations, $59 first year for individuals (for both it goes down for the 2nd and 3rd years)

 

I don't use Mathematica for work (just for curiosity and math/science interests) so would never foot the full price. For Webstorm I bought a non-reimbursed personal license to use at work. In both situations if it was Delphi I would not have made any purchase instead using either the CE or nothing. 

Edited August 3, 2022 by Brian Evans

[Antonk 0]

On 7/26/2022 at 1:10 AM, Antonk said:

The same with me:

"Our records show that you have previously obtained a trial license for this product and version. A trial license can be issued only once. If you would like to extend the product evaluation, please contact Embarcadero Support

Thank you,
Embarcadero Team"

 

Then, Embarcadero Support answered me:

 

"We received your request to increase the registration limit for Delphi Promotional Community Edition. This promotional product has a limit of three (3) registration per user. Increasing the number of registrations is not available at this time."

 

Yes, I used Delphi CE 3 times - in 2020, 2021, and 2022 obtaining a new license after expiration.

The new license arrives in my email. It works again!