Difference between revisions of "License Terms"

Revision as of 11:11, 8 August 2017

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Meteobridge is a modified firmware that needs to be flashed on your router. Hardware section lists supported routers. When flashing the Meteobridge firmware onto the router, your router converts into a Meteobridge device. As the router does have minimal internal flash storage, Meteobridge needs to reach out to the Internet to load the needed application stack from the Meteobridge server. Having that fast blinking LED switches to steady on and Meteobridg eis ready to operate.

Try Out License

First time your flashed router does connect with the Meteobridge server a 14 days trial period starts, where you can use all features and try out, if Meteobridge is a fitting solution to your purpose. During try-out period You have a PayPal button on the "License" tab which allows you to purchase a life-time Meteobridge license. When try-out period has passed, Meteobridge will no longer read data from your weather station and will prompt corresponding error messages in "Messages" section on "System" tab. Being in this state, you can still purchase a license to get the system operational again.

Licensing via PayPal

When doing the PayPal licensing with the embedded PayPal button, the Meteobridge should do an automated restart to start operation in licensed mode. Sometimes this fails and it needs you to power-cycle the unit to give it a fresh start. You can check on "License" tab if the licensed version is active. If it is not (even after a restart) please contact "info(at)meteobridge.com".

What about "Update Licenses"?

Meteobridge license comes with a two year period of free update support. That means that during that time each time you reboot the Meteobridge, you will get the newest and greatest code. When two years have passed this free updates end and you will see a notification message on "System" tab, that you are stuck to the version current when the two years have passed. Please be aware that this does not mean your license is voided, it just means that you don't get new versions.

In case you decide that you want to continue to get the newest versions, you can purchase a so called "Update License", which gives you additional two years of updates. This can be purchased as easily as the original license on "License" tab. Just click the PayPal button and with a few clicks this is done. If a problem occurs, please contact "info(at)meteobridge.com".

Do I need Updates?

It depends. As long as you are fine with what Meteobridge does for you, you don't need an update license. But there may be new developments or changes in functionality that make sense to you at Forum section. So you can easily wait with getting an update license until you really have the need/wish to make use of these changes. When you decide to opt for an update license to support the ongoing of Meteobridge development, we are of course also happy when you decide to go for an "Update License" anytime soon.

Isn't it unfair to let me pay for Updates?

We don't think so, as have two years of free updates when purchasing the initial License is a reasonable offer. When we are stuck to a commercial model, where we only get revenue from initial license sales, the whole thing collapses when additional sales go down. I think there will be a point of saturation in the market, when all people where Meteobridge solution does fit are equipped with it. Being there, there will be no revenue to cover client support, new developments, bug fixes, etc. As we have plenty of ideas of further development, it would be a pity get the project stalled by not getting the needed amount of new users on board. With the introduction of update licenses, we generate revenue from the users who want additional features and support and we by that can go on with Meteobridge.

Why didn't you let users pay for new releases but keep the old ones unlimited supported?

We thought about doing that, but it has the disadvantage that we have to support mutliple branches, which adds a lot of complexity to our development. That would mean, that part of the additional revenue will be eaten up by backporting bug fixes etc to old versions. Going the way we did, we just have one current version and this is the oine we work with and we do bug-fixing and support for. We are aware, that this means that a user might need to purchase an update license, when he is stuck at a serious problem with the latest version he has access to. But as we just take 19 Euro for 2 years of update support, we feel that this is an acceptable price for having a problems solved and 2 years of ongoing support. As we are a very small and specialized company, it is important for us to concentrate efforts and we cannot act as the big plays in supporting multiple branches.

Why didn't you outline the Update License policy right from the beginning when you stepped in with Meteobridge

To be honest, we did not see the problem to organize a revenue stream for support, further development, etc in that clarity as we do now, being in the situation. Therefore, this is a decision that developed over time and as explained it does look to us as the best way to handle it. On the other side, there have never been any promises of life-time free updates, we simply did not bother with that topic when starting. Netx time we will be more clear on that right from the start.

Wrap-Up

• Your Meteobridge license is a life time license.
• You can migrate the license to new devices (in case of HW fault, etc). Just send MAC of old and new device to "info(at)meteobridge.com" and we do the migration for free.
• First 2 years after license purchase you get all Meteobridge updatzes for free
• When 2 years have passed, you need to purchase an "Update License (19 Euro)" to have another 2 years of updates.
• There is not need, to purchase an update license, you can operate your Meteobridge without as before.

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