Marc Charbonneau

Runner’s Log uses a license file for registration, instead of a typical 20 digit serial number. With a license file, instead of sending users a code they type or paste into your application, you send them a file that contains the serial number along with any other registration information. Usually this is just a plain text file, although it doesn’t have to be.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of one method versus another. Here are the major points I came up with.

Advantages

• When done correctly, license files can be easier than typing in a serial number. Just drag the file onto your app, or double click it. On the other hand, if you only require one field for your license key, and handle copy/paste correctly, serial numbers are not that much harder.
• You can include whatever information you want in you license files. You don’t want to force the user to type in their name, email address, transaction number, but there’s no reason not to include these when you generate the license. It’s good to make sure to associate a license with a real life name or email address, to discourage casual piracy.
• License files (should be) very secure. I’m not saying you can beat software piracy, don’t believe anyone who tells you you can. What you can do, is prevent someone from creating a serial number generator for your app. Unlike shared keys or cracked copies, which you can fight by releasing updates and blacklists, a serial number generator can be especially damaging. As far as I know, using OpenSSL it’s possible to create a licensing scheme that can not be beat by serial generators.

Disadvantages

• License files don’t always fit with other company’s distribution models. Right now I’m talking with a company about localizing and selling Runner’s Log in Japan, both online and in a boxed software bundle with other applications. Although I’m sure I’ll work it out somehow, they assume applications use a serial number which can be sent via email or printed out. I would guess that some of the other promotional bundles, like MacZot or Mac Heist, work the same way.
• License files can go against the way users expect applications to work, or interfere with the way they store license codes for future use. I haven’t had any specific complaints, but it’s possible some people might be annoyed.
• It takes a little more work to implement license files. You need to associate the .applicense extension with your application, implement methods for loading external files, and make sure your online store can correctly send attachments in the registration email. In my case, I also ran into some unicode text encoding bugs I had to rush to fix. None of these require big investments in time; what I’m getting at is that the little things add up, and I don’t know any developers who wished they had more on their plate right before shipping 1.0.

No matter which method you use, there’s room to make your application stand out if you put in enough effort. I remember seeing a mock-up of a license file that was actually a generated .gif or .png image. The image looked like a key card, complete with the user’s information and the license key shown as a barcode (the actual license data could be stored in embedded metadata or headers for your application to read). If you use license codes, instead of random numbers and letters you could use a series of four or five letter english words.

For the most part, license files have worked well for Runner’s Log. However, there has been a small amount of overhead that I would have rather avoided. I’m going to keep this in mind for future projects; hopefully this will help new developers who might be in the same position I was.