Hi, this a common problem among php developers:
You want to give a demo to your customers to try your software.
But you NEED to encode it BEFORE giving them the demo and of course BEFORE getting paid.
Without being paid you cannot pay the encoder...
So, are there any FREE alternatives to Zend Encoder ?
I found two:
- php encoder from www.rssoftlab.com
I'm trying it now. They have a demo that works without limitations on a windows server. The Unix version costs US$100.
It works encrypting your source and changing a dll in your php installation.
- badblue.com
They also encrypt your source, but you have to install their web server to run your software. That's not a solution. Customer will not change their servers.
I'm wondering why aren't there alternatives to Zend Encoder. The license of php and Zend (read http://www.php.net/license/) doesn't impose a restriction on doing a non-commercial encoder just like the zend encoder.
The goal would be to make an encoder that make protected scripts, that can be run with the zend optimizer.
That would'nt be against their license, i think.
Alex.