UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums UBB.threads 6 Version 6 Support What does the licence cover?

I have a question about ubb.threads licences.

Does a licence just cover access to updates, or am I effectively licensed to run ubb.threads on my site as long as I have a licence?

Thanks

You can run your forum forever, and you have one year of updates.

If you buy a gold license, you'll also gain updates forever

I have Silver, the in between one. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But okay, putting this another way. If I was to sell my licence... could I sell it on, yet still use ubb.threads on my site but not receive any updates?

Nope. I don't think you're allowed to sell your license, period.

No, it's licensed to the site. I believe the license prohibits selling it.

The license:
https://www.ubbcentral.com/terms.php?product=UBB.threads

Josh, it also says:
"7. Modifications to the Software. ...
You agree and acknowledge that any alteration or modification of the Software ....(c) may not directly or indirectly be sold, resold, licensed, distributed or otherwise transferred to any third party or parties. This prohibition applies to both altered Infopop™ code and any new code developed by license holders specifically for use with the UBB Software. "

Does this mean all the mods are illegal?

Hrm... I've always been told that you couldn't sell a modified version of UBB.Threads, although that may be a recent addition? (Feb '03).

If you've got a wwwthreads license though, it wasn't nearly as restrictive.

Yeah, but according to this license, you are not allowed to give away or sell any software you develop to be used in conjunction with UBBThreads......

That's a puzzler, since Infopop supports ThreadsDev.. where their developer and employees have actively participated. Support staff frequently refers people to ThreadsDev and UBBDev. Support staff have also refered people to me directly to have stuff developed.

Also before we released MyPaymentPal, I had to send a copy to David Dreezer for approval.

<shrug>

[]No, it's licensed to the site. I believe the license prohibits selling it. [/]

I'm astounded, I really am. I never thought there'd be a restriction like that. I wonder if it's legal to put such a restriction in place... or if Infopop would give a refund for the unused term. I think I'm in my rights morally to say that I bought ubb.threads so don't want this new system... but of course it'll be somewhere in the small print that allows them to do it. And all businesses do that, not just Infopop. Damn small print.

When I first Bought threads I believe it was that you are restircted to One licence per installation of threads was required. In other words back then anyway as long as I ran the forums for one domain or multiple domains that all were the same installation (IE two domains that point to the same IP address/Web Server I was ok regardless of the name of the domain. I was authorized one installation period in other words you could not have six different installs for one licenesed product nor could you purchase multiple licenses then let them expire and keep upgrading those older licenses with newer versions. Etc. I am sure it is perfectly legal for them to require you to follow the licensing aggreement since that is what you buy and not the rights to the actual code. It is also in the aggreement that you purchased the license with the code as is (or something like that) They will probably contiue to support threads to fix any serious bugs etc. since that is exactly what they are doing with threads 6.5.1 since it was supposed to be the last version of threads as was stated several months ago. If you dont want the new system noone is saying that you have to install it nor does anyone require you to keep updating your forums whenever a new release is out. (somtimes that is not very feasible and would be absurd.) what I think is required is that all installations are required to be licensed for that version.

I am absolutely sure that I have muddied the waters more in my reply

Maybe Dave or someone from the legal department could answer this a LOT better than me hehe

We prohibit resold licenses mainly to stop scamming on eBay and other auction sites - people were getting ripped off. We will not provide verification that a license is valid to someone that is not the license holder, so there's no way for the buyer to actually know if the license is valid or not.

Old-school Threads license holders are still under the use terms of that license - it's per-domain instead of per-install.

Regarding what will happen to Threads... 6.5.1 is indeed the last planned update, but that doesn't mean there won't be a 6.5.2.

We will continue to support both Threads and Classic for quite a while after the new product has been released. When the time comes to drop support, it will be noted well ahead of time.

We may choose to make future bugfix releases depending on the nature of the bugs. For example, UBB.classic 6.7.2 has a nasty problem with the CSV parser in the importer, so we're releasing 6.7.3 some time in the next week or two that corrects the problem.

(Related note: Support for the 5-series of both Classic and Threads is being dropped on March 15th. After that date, the only aid that we will be prodiving in regards to those old versions will be helping to upgrade it. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> It's likely that the same policy will be adopted when we choose to end support for Classic and Threads.)

Regarding the code hacking bit in the license... hm, that phrasing is a bit odd. My understanding of our intent is to allow descriptions on how to modify the code, but prohibit distribution of premodified files. Third-party add-ons that do not contain any of our code are fine - there are plenty, some even for sale. I'll bring this up and see if we can get that clarified.

Pappy, I know what you mean. There's nothing forcing me to ugprade to the new system. But it just seems a waste that I have three years of ubb.threads membership.

This is what led me to my original question. I wondered if I could sell my membership to someone else, and just stay on 6.5.1 forever more without updating it.

But it seems the license isn't just for updates, it is a license to install it in one place and that's it.

Maybe, just maybe though, I may be pleasantly surprised at what they bring out. I admit I'm on worst case scenario planning. Are there any threads on the forum that talk about the new system, why it's happening, what's going to be in it? Charles is always helpful, any by him? <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[] We will continue to support both Threads and Classic for quite a while after the new product has been released. [/]

When the new product is released, will it be ready to run, like most off the shelf software, or will you be asking the public to test it for you?

Antony, this topic contains some info on the new product: https://www.ubbcentral.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/2/2548.html

Feel free to ask questions there, or find the counterpart topic here. I think there's one somewhere.

SDMUG... I understand how annoyed you are at the state of 6.5 and 6.5.1, and I assure you that we're just as annoyed. I think I've said that before, actually. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> No, we will not be releasing a "1.0" that contains known bugs that can be fixed.

However, you must understand that all software has bugs, and sometimes no matter how much testing is done, some bugs go undetected.

For example, the other week I fixed a bug in UBB.classic that has been in the code for over three and a half years. The code had really actually never even worked, but the conditions that would cause it to run were never right. It's a bit of repair code to make sure that the Forum#/private- directories are in a sane state during an upgrade. Finally, one customer's site was so utterly screwed up that the code finally ran and ended up doing something completely nutty.

When we released 6.5, we believed the bugs to be fixed. The internal testing group was reporting no new issues, and the issues reported here were marked fixed.

Your point has been made, and you can stop beating the dead horse. Thank you.

[]Your point has been made, and you can stop beating the dead horse. Thank you. [/]

Thanks for the clarification. I shall let the horse rest in peace.

Thanks Charles. Quite a long topic, so I'll have to read it properly tomorrow. One major alarm bell has already gone off in my mind, but I will hold my tongue (fingers?) until I've read the entire thread.

I just pray that it's not like ubb.x. That's my only real desire.

[]I just pray that it's not like ubb.x[/]There are lots of things that Eve does differently than both Classic and Threads, both in terms of functionality and UI.

Could you explain which ones in particular you're talking about?

I think one of ubb.x's biggest problems is that it's just not as intuitive as ubb.threads (I can't comment on ubb.classic, haven't used it in a lonnng time).

For me, private messaging is one great example. When I saw mention of "thread" like private messaging that was the alarm bell I mentioned.

In ubb.threads it really is simple. You click to send a PM, type in the user's name, type your message and click send. They then get the nice flashing envelope, and they read it. Couldn't be simpler.

But ubb.x... you have to press go, then private messaging, then new private message, then find new buddies, then type in their displayed name, then press search, then select their name, then select to add the member. Then, not finished you have to select the user from a list, then select add, then select to invite them to a topic and then and only then can you type the message. Add to this, the system the doesn't notify them (only via email if that option is selected). So users can be completely oblivious to having a message. If they do have the email reminder, they have to "accept" the message or decline it... which I can't see why.

That is where I see this dichotomy... ubb.threads being very good, ubb.x being well, not IMHO. It's obvious what Infopop's intentions are, I know the money is in a subscription-based model. But I worry about what that means for this product line. First move downloadable products out of the way, now the product is being "retired". I just hope it isn't some mini ubb.x being created to encourage migration to ubb.x.

To me, ubb.x should be improved to be more like ubb.threads, not the other way around.

A blinking notificiation of a waiting PM is being added in Eve 1.2, actually. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We haven't built the final PM UI yet, so I can't really comment on how we'll be doing that in the new product... however, do keep in mind that we've found most PMs are sent from the user's profile page or from a topic page, thus negating the entire need to either search for a user (Eve) or enter a PDN (Threads).

I could go on though, that was just one thing. The fact that my ubb.x messageboard's listing on Google is "Error. Your browser does not support these pages. Please upgrade your browser if you choose to view this site" to me is sloppy. I told them about this problem months ago, yet it still does it.

But anyway, I won't beat your ears off with ubb.x problems. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But are you able to comment on why this is happening? Not maintaining two downloadable products I can understand. But why not just keep ubb.threads and maybe adapt that to suit ubb.classic users? Why reinvent the wheel?