How can I sell code written in an interpreted language?

Question

It seems to me that if you write in an interpreted language, that it should be difficult to sell the software, because anyone who buys it can edit / modify / resell it without too much difficulty.

How do you get around this? I have a couple of PHP applications that I am reluctant to sell to people, because it seems that it is too easy for them to change / read / edit / sell what I created.

Answer 1

Hardly anyone is selling the code. We sell the ability to create, edit, maintain and understand code.

Answer 2

As a potential buyer of your application, I might find these features attractive:

• Ability to change the code according to my needs
• The ability to read code to better understand what it does

... and yes ...

• Possibility to sell my modifications

All three of them are functions.

The third may be a feature that you cannot allow me to give. Correct this with legal measures, not technical measures. What is licensing for? You can also sell more expensive licenses that allow resale.

There are things that you could do to remove the first two functions, but keep in mind that in doing so you reduce the overall value of your product for some people and therefore its selling price.

For many people, the main reason for using open source software is that it does not cost anything - you get the source code.

Answer 3

People sell website creation service all the time. In addition, even a compiled language can be changed, it is simply more complicated.

Answer 4

In most cases, the user base does not understand how to make changes or what to do with scripts so that you really sell your knowledge on how to install and modify scripts.

Answer 5

Do not sell software; sell "licenses."

I will try to explain better, I create a web application, but I provide hosting for it. this way, your client will never be able to "hold" the source code.

If you really need to deliver the source code, Obfuscating is the way to go;)

Answer 6

Many companies make money on applications in interpreted languages ​​and happily distribute source code with them. Do not take it personally, but your program will probably not be popular enough to have a large number of pirates. And anyone who will pirate on your software is probably not going to buy it in the first place. If they cannot pirate, they will pirate someone.

No matter what you do, please do not obfuscate your code. This is not an effective means of preventing disruption, and it will do nothing but make life miserable for you and your customers.

Answer 7

Protecting your secret bits is getting harder.

IMHO, your decision really depends on your target market. If you are targeting a business, just give them a code with a good license and maybe some kind of defect so that you can determine who gave your code if that happens. Businesses will only pay for your application in order to remain compatible; it is not worth legal obstacles. And if a person receives your application for free, this may be good, as they will try to convince their current and future employers to buy it.

If you target individual users and can do it as a web application (which you obviously use with PHP), do it as a hosted service and either sell your monthly subscription or allow free access and find another way to monetize it.

If you definitely need or need to distribute it among people for any reason, you can give it away for free and try to monetize settings, add-ons and other support functions.

This is a problem that has been discussed a lot, and a few hours of really really focused googling should reveal all current philosophies on this.

Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Possible routes:

• Translate to byte code, binary or obfuscation format

For example, Splunk is written primarily in Python and distributes bytecode. The EVE online client uses Stackless Python to compile into an executable binary.

• Make a decision yourself

Build a website, pay for use.

• Software license

They receive the source, but cannot legally modify or redistribute the source code.

• Open source solution

Anyone can change the code, but you are the de facto authority on it, and you can earn money by selling support services, consultations and settings.

You can also consider a combination of approaches. For example, split your solution into several standalone packages, and then open some of them and sell the bytecode versions of the other parts. What you sell is a complete solution, as well as other services, and some people can benefit and improve other parts of the solution.

Answer 9

Obfuscation may be a good way

Answer 10

Read the answer. How to protect Python code? and replace Python with PHP.

Answer 11

With PHP, you have the option to use Zend Guard for PHP. I believe that it compiles the source code in a way similar to what the php interpreter does, so it should also improve performance. Of course, the price of $ 600 may be too big for your liking; -)

In any case, I see no reason why you should not distribute your code using an open source license (see the Open Source Initiative for a list of available licenses). You may find one that prohibits your client from redistributing your application.

EDIT:
As Novelocrat notes in a comment, a prohibition of distribution license is not an open source license, and the term Open Source means much more than just the availability of source code. (See also the answers to this related question for further discussion).