René, My 10 cents:
For a monthly fee, host sites and promote your software (and updates) as part of the service. Or, sell the software and offer upgrades at a price. This option isn't as attractive though. It's much more expensive upfront and means the customer will have to deal with managing the system. Your hosting service provides a way to spread the cost over an extended period of time in a hassle free manner. Offer free support for recent versions and charge to support older versions. As a result, one benefit of upgrading is free support and it's much easier for you to manage. Managing multiple sets of code can become a major headache. Remember, sometimes it's wise to ask for more money up front if it means you'll be there when customers need support. Yes, MySQL can fetch data over the Internet. You'll want to research ways of encrypting this data, but typically it's just an issue of specifying which server is the database server when using the mysql_connect function. -Ed > -----Original Message----- > From: René Fournier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 11:29 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [PHP] Can I be an ASP with PHP? > > > I have a question to which I'm pretty sure the answer will be > "no", but > I would like to hope I'm wrong... > > I've developed a very simple Content Management tool--called > "Europa"--that even retarded monkeys can use to change/update text in > their web site. It's web-based, user-authenticated > (sessions), and runs > with PHP4 and MySQL. > > Now, Europa is pretty much plug and play, so long as the web site is > getting its text from a MySQL database. There's a web agency in town > that is interested in Europa for their clients. Their clients > want to be > able to easily and quickly update certain elements of their > site without > begging some outside webmaster. They would really benefit from Europa. > > Problem: I don't want to "sell" Europa, or even install it on > someone's > web server for a one-time fee. I've spent a long time on this little > tool, and want to continue to improve it. So, I would rather > license it > to companies. They pay a quarterly subscription fee, and get to use > Europa as it continues to grow and improve. I'm just a > little worried > about one thing: If I install Europa on their server, and > they pay their > paltry quarterly subscription fee, and then decide they don't > need any > updates, I'm screwed. The value of Europa is much greater than what I > want to sell subscriptions to it for (not much--I'm not > really greedy), > but I need some kind of control. > > The idea: In order for Joe User to update text on his web > site, he comes > to my "Europa" web site, enters his company name, user ID, > password, and > clicks Login, and--voilà--he sees a handsome list of tables > containing > the text content of his site--which is pulled from a MySQL database > residing on HIS web site's web host. > > And this is the trick: Can PHP somehow fetch MySQL data over the > Internet? Is this possible? If so, is it necessary for me to > resort to > new, unknown technologies like XML or SOAP, or can I do it with PHP > alone? > > Thanks for your comments. > > ...Rene > > --- > René Fournier, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Toll-free +1.888.886.2754 > Tel +1.403.291.3601 > Fax +1.403.250.5228 > www.smartslitters.com > > SmartSlitters International > #33, 1339 - 40th Ave NE > Calgary AB T2E 8N6 > Canada > > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > **************************************************************************** This message is intended for the sole use of the individual and entity to whom it is addressed, and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended addressee, nor authorized to receive for the intended addressee, you are hereby notified that you may not use, copy, disclose or distribute to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received this message in error, please immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete the message. Thank you very much. -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
