elamast wrote:FourthWorld wrote:What specific features are in the "full product" that you feel are holding folks back from using the Community Edition?
What I was reading recently is that new features (like the MergeEXT widgets) wouldn't be available in the Livecode 8 community edition. Second, there are limitations on being able to distribute IOS apps through the app store.
Some of Monte's collection may be enhanced to work with platforms other than iOS, and a few are available as open source right now.
Either way, there is indeed an inherent incompatibility between the freedom's granted in the GPL and Apple's limit on the number of downloads of an app per account.
If iOS deployment were the one thing holding educators back from adopting LC in droves, I'm sure the folks at LiveCode Ltd. would jump on that golden opportunity. But a couple years ago they offered a $99/yr option for iOS deployment, and there were so few takers it wasn't worth the cost of maintaining the program.
It's also worth noting that while Scratch and Python dominate K-12 CS curricula, iOS deployment does not seem to play a critical role.
There are some fairly recent packagers for iOS for Python, but they don't seem to be very popular right now despite the language's huge installed base. In a talk by Jessica McKellar back when she was Director of the Python Foundation she noted that she found only about half a dozen mobile apps deployed in Python.
http://blogs.dailynews.com/click/2015/0 ... e-keynote/
As for Scratch, it would be interesting to see a breakdown by OS and device type to evaluate platform use, but I'd wager most of the work done in classrooms with it is on PCs.
For mobile use Android's 80% market share make it a compelling option, and while the good news is that LC Community Edition is license-compatible with the terms of the Android app store, the majority of Monte's externals are exclusive to iOS.
Again, the bottom line is that I think you have to hook the teachers first with a product perceived as easy and useful that produces beautiful output, then the students, and then you will have a lifetime user base you can sell to for future commercial development.
I fully agree that LC should be capable and attractive, but if it's somehow prohibitive to use without Monte's externals we have a much bigger problem on our hands.
Given the strong role Python plays in education, and the strength of the LiveCode language and object model, I think our efforts are best focused on providing a great onboarding experience to the rich features of the zero-cost Community Edition.