LiveCode Forums.

LiveCode have, very generously, given me a free 20 seat licence to current versions of LiveCode for education,
and I have sent them details of my company and educational status to show them that I have not been spinning
a load of fairy stories for the last 19 years.

This is lovely, BUT . . .

. . . and what follows is NOT to be taken as a criticism as such of LiveCode, but it does illustrate the sort of
conundrum some people may find themselves in because of the recent license rethink by LiveCode . . .

1. If I want pupils of mine to do programming homework, unless they are prepared to pay for a license they
will have to depend on downloading one of the earlier Open Source editions . . .

. . . if there is a mismatch between syntax in new versions of LiveCode and the Open Source version
this could mean that stacks created in my school with, say, LC 10.0 might not work under the
Open Source version 9.6.3, and the other way round.

2. Obviously I will continue to develop my Devawriter Pro using the Open Source version whether I continue
to offer it for free (which I do at the moment) or charge for it, at least as long as my revenue from it
does not justify paying for a licence.

I still maintain the better option would have been to provide a free 'hobbyist tier' that does not build standalones but which allows users to learn and use LiveCode freely; and provide a "standard tier" type subscription with with a loyalty scheme that gives a financial incentive to stay subscribed, to retain paying subscribers.

Anything else is really trying to squeezing blood out of stone, while putting up a significant barrier to new users learning and adopting LiveCode...

I agree to the free "hobbyist tier" but think that it should at least allow standalone to be built on Windows/Mac/Linux computers.

Students should be able to build programs to show their parents and share with their friends. It is very powerful to be able to put your program on a USB drive and take it home and let everyone try it. I have seen students programming in scratch/Python/JAVA languages and not have anyone see what they have done. They can't unless their parents install Scratch/Python or Java on their home computers. Most do not. Their parents and friends do not understand what they do.

That is good marketing strategy. Let the students demo and promote the platform. Let their parents take their programs to work to show off what their sons and daughters are doing in school. Most likely they will be impressed with the LiveCode results. It may generate some interest of LiveCode at work too. The students classmates can play their games and try out the programs. Chances are they will want to take the class too and learn LiveCode.

I saw this happen at my school. We did a lot of games, then apps. Word got around. The next year, one out of every 5 students requested the class. It was the most asked for course in the school.

It would be nice if they could build apps for iOS and Android but not necessary. They could still program for those platforms but build the executables for Windows and Mac and let their parents see what it would look like on a smart phone.

LiveCode would not be giving up any revenue because the more serious programmers would have to purchase the license to distribute on those platforms iOS and Android. (They could see but not build for iOS or Android). That may be a nice compromise.

The key here is to allow students to show off and share their creations with their parents and friends. Word of mouth marketing is nice but hands-on marketing is much, much more powerful.

1. If I want pupils of mine to do programming homework, unless they are prepared to pay for a license they
will have to depend on downloading one of the earlier Open Source editions .

Not so. The Schools license allows students to use the license wherever they are, at home or at school. They are take home licenses.

Best Regards,

Heather

That is fantastic!

It might be a good idea to have a 'donate" button on the LC website so that,
while not paying for LiveCode at the moment, when I start my next programming course
(definitely in the Summer next year, possibly sooner) I can 'redirect' at least a small share
of the money I make teaching those courses.
-