What happens if Boonex Flops

I'm getting tired of these kinds of threads. All they do is scare away people and cause a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Dolphin only phones home when the license information is updated. This change was made in 7.0 after the BoonEx server was DDoSed. Also, the license code is base64 encoded, so it can easily be decoded to review. However, I don't see that being needed.

Boonex is licensed under the Creative Commons 3.0 license.  So the first step for knowing what we can do and can not do is to read that license; http://creativecommons.org/

Many software platforms have come and gone over the years, so having an understanding in what will happen to our sites if Boonex decides to shut completely is important to us.  Boonex needs to address our concerns with us.  We are free to use the software under the Creative Commons; that license won't disappear even if Boonex does.  Now if the company is sold, that is a different matter as new releases of Dolphin may not be under the Creative Commons license we are using with our current versions.

We buy a separate license to unbrand Dolphin and that is probably where most of the concern lies.  That license is tied to a licensing server that checks to see if our copy currently has the unbranding license installed.  Our unbranding license does not expire, therefore, even if Boonex shuts, our license to unbrand Dolphin holds.  The problem, of course, is that it only works if the licensing server continues to operate.  I would assume that if the licensing server shuts, then our license to unbrand would allow us to circumvent the lost of the licensing server.  We need clarification on this.

I did not see this post until after I had posted since I was in edit mode.  This is good to know.  So once we install the license, it does not check after the initial contact with the licensing server.  Actually, addressing this is the forum and letting people know that their thousands of dollars investment is not tied to Boonex maintaining a licensing sever will be beneficial and assure new members that investing in Dolphin will not be wasted if Boonex does shut.  No company is immune to shutting; look at some of the huge corporations that have come and gone.

It is good to know that our investments are safe if we use Dolphin.

I looked for quite awhile but cannot find the post i was looking for.

This has been brought up a number of times. I would not worry to much about it. If they do close, others will release hacks to get by it if boonex does not. But i am pretty sure that andrew mentioned in one of the past posts that if it ever does happen then they will release instructions on how to remove the license check.

But as i stated, even if they don't, someone else will.

I brought it up because my client/partner asked me. We have spent so much time and money into these projects, I can understand his concerns. How long will the site be down, will we have to rewrite the whole thing, how long will that take, etc... - All this questions are starting to come out now that we are less than 24 hours from launch of new Project.

Life's a gamble... I assume Andrew has taken legal steps to ensure Boonex will continue in the case of severe injury or death.  The one issue that I think is worth considering is the possibility that the few people required to run Boonex are burning (burnt?) out.  If key members of the team either stop working effectively or outright leave then it could have a profound impact on the longevity of Dolphin software.

Boonex won't flop and I don't think developers calling it a day here would matter either ... I think there would soon be more ready to fill the gaps and carry things on. All businesses, services, whatever have ups and downs. Not all business last as long or has as much potential as Boonex / Dolphin has.

I totally agree with Nathan Paton statement  "I'm getting tired of these kinds of threads. All they do is scare away people and cause a self-fulfilling prophecy." For any business to progress, change and restructure is inevitable, when change happens,  we may like or not like, but change is inevitable and we eventually get used to it or get out.

Does Boonex as a company really owe us anything, they supply a base product that I can download and use the branded product for free, I pay a fee (as with most companies) to remove branding. I can read the forums for free and only have to pay a $5 (fiver) to post on the forum. Yes they do have recommend hosting providers who's shared hosting is not suitable for proper live site, but I have a shared hosting plan from TMD ($34 a year - the average price of a module in the market) that allows me to prepare, add  test, modify my sites and I can add and test modules at a low investment cost prior to (moving to) going live on  servers provided by the recommended providers or companies like servers4you or even zarconia that are fit for purpose. I want to just spend $300 dollars and compete with the likes of Facebook, etc - me think's not!.

What tomorrow brings no one knows, just remember in 100 years time everyone here on Boonex today will be dead!. In saying that any company that is surviving in these times of rescission deserves credit and support to be able to meet tomorrows challenges.

He is a Quote direct from Andrew Boon in My 2 cents about $500 - Part 2

"5. If BoonEx ever goes out of business, you get to keep your licenses and the right to use the software indefinitely, as per license terms. BoonEx licenses are very non-restrictive and future-proof. You can modify the software, use it however you want and there are not limits for usage, time or version. With commercial license the only reservation is that you can only use it on one domain at a time (you can change domain)."

 Deano will be here for us ...as always