Are you serious - I paid $95US for this crap and now I have to BUY SUPPORT? Created Mar 5, 2010

In my opinion, its not stinking. You pay $95, for branding. If you don't want to remove the default, then its free. What issues you are facing with the player and with which version ?

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Chetan

No, my client paid $95 to remove branding, which is silly. If we had known that we have to pay $39 every time the web host changes, or in this case, when I put in the wrong host, I would never have suggested he buy this. During development, the host key needs to be for videos.server296.com, which will change when the site is launched. One shouldn't have to buy support for a feature that one has already paid. I spend my days created modules that are fully configurable by the developer. The fact that setting up the host for flow player isn't included in the commercial product shows laziness, or at least an oversight, on the part of the developers.

This comes up every once in a while and your comments simply point to a basic misunderstanding of how the licensing works.

(I'm not from Flowplayer, BTW, but a user.)

When you get a license key for domain ABC, that key works FOREVER.

If they just give you a key for domain ZYZ, you now have TWO keys that work FOREVER.

Can you imagine the number of people who would abuse this system? People would sign up for one domain, then pretend they need to change it. They then get two domains for the price of one. I'm sure you hadn't thought of that.

The licensing system works this way because Flowplayer does not use a licensing server, as some Web software does. You do not want software that requires the use of a licensing server because the server may be temporarily unavailable, or the company may go out of business.

With Flowplayer's system, you can use what you paid for indefinitely. That necessarily means they are UNABLE to revoke a license already given for a domain. Because licenses cannot be revoked once provided, you should not expect freebie domains.

There was nothing stopping you using the commercial player in a test environment, and in fact Flowplayer has features where you can verify branding on localhost. Except for branding, all of the features of the commercial player work without a license key. You can test 99% of it without a key.

There is never a reason to have to buy a license for development on a test server, and another license on a production server. That was your (or your client's) misunderstanding, not the fault of Flowplayer. This topic comes up regularly enough and the fact that you are buying a license for ONE domain is very clear.

You are the one who recommended the product to your customer without reading the documentation or in fact what you were actually buying.

It is recommended on the site that you test by using the FREE open source fully functional player before buying a license. When you are satisfied that it works on your test site then buy a license for whatever domain you are using.

Open Source basically means free, get it, free. Should you however want to brand it as "your work" then you pay for this privilege with 95 of your hard earned dollars.

I think you should pay it and not your client, after all it was you that recommended he/she use it.

Long Live Free!
Krs
www.globalocalism.com

Do you think Flowplayer is a charity?

No, its a commercial business. 2 brothers spend their entire day building this website, all the surrounding tools, and the VERY good video player for you to use for free.

All they ask in return is that a small % of their commercial users pay a license fee. If this commercial license, didn't exist, then there would be NO open source player.

$95 to add your own commercial branding, you think this is expensive? My friend, $95 (about £60) to a commercial venture is peanuts. If you think that is expensive for thousands of lines of quality AS3 code then you're client (or you, or both) is going to get a BIG shock when you come up against any time in the industry when you need to assess the value of software.

And $35 for support is expensive to you? Perhaps your used to getting all your work from these guys:

https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome

We ALSO produce bespoke plugins for Flowplayer, and if any of our clients came to us and the problem for them was that a Flowplayer license was $95, then I'd tell them they were in the wrong industry.

This forum is full of friendly users who offer up their spare time to offer P2P support for free. However, the time of the core FP team is much more valuable spent on the main product. If they are to offer personal support too, then sure why shouldn't you pay for that?

Sheez...

Bottom line - you pay for a product and worth-while companies stand behind it. Charging a fee for a license key that has to be updated every time you change domain names is under-handed. That's not support anyway - this is a requirement for the product to function as advertised.

Sheez...

We learn by mistakes, and sadly, that is a true statement that will sticks with us until we die. This time you loose, but don't panic and the best you can do is be honest with your client, maybe you will loose some money this time but you gain a heck of experience.

Next time you would know what to do and experiences like this make you wiser. When we talk about licenses and software we have to go through all the contract and small prints. Life goes on, and try to look a positive way of this. Good luck

I think it's just a matter of full disclosure. If the customer who is complaining was aware before he purchased this wouldn't be an issue.

The reasons for charging for support are quite valid, and if known in advance could be accepted or rejected.

It's just that so many people now days are being taken advantage of by "fine print" or flagrant falsehoods. People have a very short fuse.