I was thinking a commercially usable Make version with LESS functionality than current Make version.
It’s an interesting idea but how would it work in practice? What could be blocked in the API? There’s no way for the API to e.g. distinguish reading a DWG file from any other file, unless all file reading methods were replaced with method that specifically refuses to read files by that extension but even then the plugin could just rename the file first. Blocking all unsigned extensions makes hobby development impossible and blocking signed extensions would only stop devs from signing theirs. Any ideas what there is to block?
So if someone used SketchUp on 6 computers on the same local network but never have more than 1 or 2 people using SU at a time, could two network licenses cover that need?
@sketch3d_de, It would not be a Make edtion. It ( a “Craftsman” license) would be a discounted Pro edition, that had special license limitations. (Self-employed sole proprietor licensee, and perhaps limited to organizations under certain revenue cap.)
@eneroth3, we should start a separate thread in the API category to get a bit more detailed on possible API limitations. (But yes limiting or banning certain import and export might be one.)
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Nice.
In other words if you use SketchUp to make money pay up. If you use SU to only make a little bit of money, only pay a little bit.
I like the idea of a discounted price for people strictly using SU for sketching and not using or integrating with AutoCAD.
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Seriously, please think for just a moment on the administrative costs associated with your suggestion. Not only referring to identifying, verifying and maintaining the type of user a but you are coming close to suggesting an a la carte license which always costs more than the original.
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Well, Neil, I am more thinking of the little guy who designs and builds cabinets, chairs or furniture, etc., as a small business. Or even caskets (I know such a guy.) Perhaps it’s a retired business on the side kind of thing.
The caps could also apply to the licensee’s service charges, … if the licensee charges more $n for SketchUp services rendered, than they’d need to upgrade to a normal Pro licensee.
@BDTCD, John I’m just brain-storming here out loud! Everything now works on the honor principle, … and many people are taking advantage of this. I really don’t care how it is done, but more users need to support the development and maintenance, instead of saddling it all upon the honest Pro licensees.
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With that logic, the same idea should apply to power tools at home depot or materials at a lumber yard. “I’m just tiling my bathroom so I should get a cheaper price.” or “I’m a weekend project builder so sell me that table saw for 1/3 the price that you do the professional carpenter.” For someone to pay less, someone else must pay more.
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Need to say, I agree with John Boundy that your plugin should only run on the Pro edition(s).
Isn’t there such a responsibility in the API terms? (If not there should be.)
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[quote=“DanRathbun, post:24, topic:46232”]…that had special license limitations. (Self-employed sole proprietor licensee, and perhaps limited to organizations under certain revenue cap.)
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this does regularly not work for the Make version already (see above) and surely won’t for any other license limitations (which typically can and will not be validated by the licensor).
I have purchased plugins that only run in the Pro version. Isn’t there a way to restrict a plugin to only work in SketchUp Pro or was I bamboozled?
This is totally my point.
That’s why Home Depot sells Ryobi. 
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Well then, IMO, there is no other course then to admit defeat and discontinue the free Make edition(s) altogether.
(“Taps” plays softly from the distance)
Yes there is.
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[quote=“DanRathbun, post:33, topic:46232”]…to admit defeat and discontinue the free Make edition(s) altogether.
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… migrating freebies to a mature my.sketchup.com than… being free for public documents and paying a monthly subscription fee for the full-blown functionality (e.g. data exchange) and if used commercially.
If you have enough ideas to make it a thread of its own, please go ahead. However if it doesn’t take up too much space I think it’s on topic enough to be in this thread too.
May I ask what the plugin does? You probably know your customer best but I can’t think of any tool that can’t be used by hobbyists. Not that long ago it seemed like no one expected hobbyists to make 3d models at all.
Fun story: when Sketchup free (as it was called then) had been my primary hobby for some years my dad told me that he had actually thouight about getting the software as my Christmas gift years before there was a free version. However he gave up when he was required to answer things like how many employees his company had (he doesn’t have a company). I had to wait several more years until I found SketchUp myself 
.
Monthly subscription fees are NOT the answer. I purchase software just like I purchase the other tools in my trade. I never want to find myself in a scenario where a downturn in business may lead to my not being able to use my tools. That’s a no win situation. I have been studying the affects of the subscription based software model on the small business and it will cause more problems than it solves.
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It automatically draws buildings from user input. Clicking on various parts of the building (ie windows, doors, porches, and so on) updates and inspector like window allowing the user to update the selected items.
Ok my plugin could be used by hobbyists but not at the price I’m charging.
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I agree completely! I do not get my tools on a subscription basis (the closest thing might be a loan for a large piece of equipment, but that is really between me and the bank, not between me and the tool manufacturer). I think the idea of “subscription software” was created when the vendors found that people were no longer slavishly buying every new release, because the existing release was quite adequate for their needs. It is a way to force people to support the revenue stream even if they are deriving no incremental benefit.
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I agree completely. Also, I want to be able to open up old projects 10 years or 50 years from now for the nostalgia. This can be done when you have control of your hardware and the software doesn’t depend on a cloud to work.
A cloud service can never be the same as a real application running on your own computer. I wish that day never comes. Right after my.sketchup was announced I personally contacted John Baccus about my concerns for this scenario.
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