Hi Byculla,
Yes, I'm familiar with X_Dev and Myst. You are correct in that the problem with X_Dev is one of Yahoo! changing its data format. The fix is actually quite easy, but, of course, you need the source code.
However this isn't an issue of licensing. If any software vendor decides not to support his product, then whether the software is tied to a license server or not, you will have problems.
Technology changes so quickly that any useful software needs to be supported in a timely manner or it will eventually break (moreso for investment software since this category relies heavily on data feeds).
Automatic Investor has been selling since 1999 and I've had my fair share of issues (including Yahoo! changing their data format a number of times), but I've always been able to fix these things quickly. If there's a problem with the license server, I will also fix that right away.
At the end of the day, however, if a vendor stops supporting the software, users will be out of luck. It doesn't have anything specifically to do with implementing a license server or not.
I've looked at various licensing schemes and the one I currently use is what I find to be best. As I've mentioned before, I'm always open to suggestions. If someone suggests what I think is a better way of licensing, then I'd be happy to implement it.
In the meantime, the current method appears to work well for me and current AI users.
