I\'m starting a very large project soon. It must include a licensing system. The
ID: 661223 • Letter: I
Question
I'm starting a very large project soon. It must include a licensing system.
The project will produced using PHP/Laravel/JavaScript and use many different libraries, a CMS, and a few databases.
The software will be licensed out to other companies, which is why the ability to enable/disable usage is very important.
For the most part, piracy shouldn't be an issue considering the vast majority of the companies that will use this software don't have the know-how to disable the protection or don't have a developer that could do this.
What's the best way to handle this? Is restricting the source-code via a per domain basis possible and would it work well?
How would this be done? How could I manage updates to the software too?
Explanation / Answer
Perhaps it goes against your current projects intentions - however - you should try and avoid selling products to clients which are bundled in this way and where they have direct and absolute control over the source. (I assume they would be hosting your application on a local server? They would need some kind of technician and would they have to know your code in order to fix problems etc...)
The best solution is: Host the application on your own server and have individual clients subscribe to your server. Distributing a licence to them is essentially granting them authentication rights. You have technical control over their version/authentication/support and are able to amass logs of usage to improve performance etc...
Is there a reason you can't do it this way?