License manager ended unexpectedly

I sent a ticket and got the most unhelpful automatic message.
Also I did have the newest version (as I told I had attempted update just before sending that message) of everything. I had just updated my system, including packages needed for running Windows programs (through Wine)

As I’musing Linux I had no idea what could I do to that “.NET”. Obviously I had it installed, though, under the “mono” package .
Scrivener was NOT supposed to even need those packages to function (I happened to have mono installed for game modding work).

If a program stops working because of a misconfigured LICENSE, that is plain criminal. Program is intentionally broken to not work. For paying customers.
I never guessed that loading a “critical” update would end in a program that crashes because is “cannot contact the license server”.

I luckily had a link to an “Appimage” old linux version which could open my projects, and I was not left with a mess of sundry .rtf files.

The information of what happened is in this thread. I do not wish to spend more of my time downloading (intentionally) broken programs and attempt to install them. Unless I get paid for my time and nerves.

I know the whole licence problem is frustrating for those involved.

Most ticket systems have an automated response that just says, received it and will get back to you shortly. I don’t know how the automated acknowledgment could be more helpful.

You have accuse L&L of criminal behaviour without any fact to support that, in fact every evidence it was unexpected as a result of the forced change of licence management. Those of us who have used Scrivener over the years know Keith and team to be honest and ethical.

The accusation is unacceptable on so many levels and IMHO you owe L&L a retraction and apology.

A minor point, you are using Scrivener on an unsupported platform so there’s never any guarantee it will work.

I don’t know if this has been suggested before. Rather than frustrating the existing users further, would it be possible to provide some means of offline activation? New users and those who will update to version 3 can activate through Paddle.

Jon

They have obviously given their license system to that Pebble or Bubble or whatever it was that has broken the software and made the license needing to connect to a server that cannot be reached. It’s probably not L&L:s doing, save that they have been using a provider that causes havoc. They should sue that company and require that they compensate everyone affected for lost time.

Unsupported platform or not but a program must NEVER NEVER crash because of a broken license. And I’ve read these forums and it seems that people who are using the program on Windows have exactly the same problem. No connection to license server, error message giving wrong cause

That’s the thing. When you’re using it on an unsupported platform, you can never know if the problem arises from the software or the platform. Wine is not Windows. Besides, there is a Linux forum for that purpose.

This time I can. At least I know it is the LICENSE. As you can see from my earlier post with screenshots, the program had started, loaded my projects (there is a project open in the background), then it forces the license there, I fill in, and it tells it “cannot reach the server”. Hitting OK closes the program. People using Windows have had exactly the same problems.

If it had been just me, I would have believed it is because I use it through Wine. As I found here page upon page of similar or almost similar messages, from WINDOWS USERS i do know it IS NOT.
Besides, actual Wine problems are never like that. It may be the program does not launch, or that some properties don’t work or have odd quircks, but if the problem is Wine, it does NEVER cause a problem that is the SAME as those that people using native Windows do have.

There is no Linux forum for that purpose. It was for the Linux beta that got discontinued.

While thinking more about this, as an option some companies allow for an alternative method for activation. It is true that they are fewer than before, but having an option to email a request to L&L (or Paddle) for a manual activation key would be helpful and (I think) calm some nerves.

Jon

It’s certainly possible that Wine’s .NET support is contributing to any connectivity issues.

And it does appear that the new update has fixed the issue for most Windows-based users.

So I wouldn’t discount the possibility that Wine is a contributing factor.

Our Wine-based users appear to congregate in the Linux beta forum, despite its somewhat misleading name.

Katherine

That it has got working (so far?) for most Windows users does not make it less Defective By Design, i.e. Intentionally broken. “Protecting it from illegal use” by preventing also legal use.

If the licensing had been done properly (give the program the code and it checks it – internally, without needing connections) there would have been no problems. Games typically work that way (and they actually often are pirated). Or then you register to their server (knowing what it is) and download.

Now the license code obviously is handled by an outsider module badly integrated using then obviously a badly-designed MS connection program (possibly intentionally designed to “detect wrong OS” and stop working) to connect to an obscure server somewhere (No way to check of that server is even working. Maybe it works only when moon’s up, or only on weekdays 11AM to 2PM according to a timezone that isn’t revealed,)

If the license makes it non-working through wine, that’s an abomination. And really, if I have paid for a program I expect to have no hassle after that, requiring me to try to update this and that FOR LICENSE.

Do you remember the Sony’s rootkit scandal? CD:s that installed a virus to computers that you used as a CD-player. In the name of “copy-protection”? This has the same taste. Only the possibility to stop a breathing machine is missing.

You paid for a licence for it to work on Windows, not WINE. You have every right to expect it to work on Windows, you have no right to expect it to work on WINE. If it does, that is a bonus, but one that is not promised in the licence, or their advertising.

That said it has been a shambles with the change, and yes L&L could have handled it better and communicated more, but their commitment and responsibility is to get it working on Windows, which is what they sold it for. I have no doubt they hope to have it working for those Linux users who run it on WINE, but they may not have staff who have any experience on that platform.

If you are not a lawyer who specializes in software licensing, you need to maybe stop spouting obviously incorrect opinions.

As a professional in the IT world for over 25 years, I can promise you that “call home” license activation has been a thing for as long as the ability to connect over the Internet has been a thing. Before then, you’d have to install a license activation server on your local network. If something happened to it, all sorts of chaos would erupt. Those are many late nights I will never get back. Plenty of modern software does it too.

You may not like it, and you may have valid philosophical reasons for how you feel, but courts in jurisdictions worldwide have upheld the legality of software performing periodic licensing checks (and shutting down if they don’t pass).

There’s plenty of modern software that flat refuses to run without an internet connection, so that it can phone home every time you use it, not just every couple of months.

Katherine

Link for the curious: the Scrivener for Windows license agreement.
literatureandlatte.com/downl … indows.pdf

Katherine

I do not have anything in the system or software that would “affect the functionality of the software”. Software is Scrivener, and it has worked without problem for two years.
I have not made any kind of contract with that licensing company that has made a mess.

devinganger is speaking of professional programs which are bought after long negotiations and cost more than a worker yearly salary.

This could be compared with a vendor of $1 school notebooks to whom someone has sold a new security system. Now the notebooks are in closets that have three locks that have to be separately opened. The keys are held by separate persons who all must be there to open the locks. If one of them is missing , notebooks cannot be sold.

You are running Scrivener on an unsupported platform, so there are at least 4 scenarios that could ‘affect functionality’.

  1. A change in Wine could break it
  2. A change in Linux could break it
  3. A change in Scrivener could break it
  4. Someone sneezing in the next room could break it.
    Whether it previously worked for 1 year or 10 is immaterial.

Because you are on an unsupported platform, even without the licensing issue that has I believe been fixed for Windows users, Scrivener works on your platform if you are lucky and if it doesn’t L&L have no liability to you. (My commercial law background) As they claim Scrivener for Windows works on Windows only their support liability begins an ends with Windows. They are actively working to ensure Scrivener 1.9 works for all Windows users.

Licences phoning home occurs in some everyday programs, not just the enterprise ones you claim Devinganger was referring to.

What if I had bought the program now?
Ok they do not guarantee that it works. But that is what the trial is for.
I test the program with trial, see, that it works flawlessly, at least flawlessly enough for me and decide to buy.
And it turns out the licensing does not work. A thing I could not have tested before buying.
They have told only “we do not guarantee”, not “it cannot be licensed outside Windows”.

I know there are programs that “phone home” and need internet connection to work. I avoid those at all costs (of course unless the internet connection is necessary for the function of the program, like an online game or real-time contact program – but then it is the program itself that needs connection),and I presume that if there is a usable alternative, people soon vote for their money.

I get the license error messages pasted into the beginning of this thread. I use Windows 10 and paid for the license in January of this year. I just now updated the software and the messages stopped. Is this fix permanent? Am I going to lose my account? Is the software going to lock me out in two months?

Scrivener is still working but and I love the software program. I don’t want to have to switch but I also don’t want to have this worry hanging over my head of being locked out of the program. I compile my novel to word periodically so I won’t lose it.

Thanks for all you do.

The root cause of the problem was an issue with the licensing toolkit that we use. This problem now appears to be fixed, and you shouldn’t have any further problems.

Katherine

Well, no, that’s not all I’m speaking of. I can think of several dozen small utilities that do a regular license check off the top of my head. It may not be common, but it’s not unknown. Please don’t put words in my mouth.

Like Microsoft Office?
support.office.com/en-us/articl … 170b1e187e

Katherine