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Another one goes subscription
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Posted by Paul Korm
Aug 31, 2023 at 06:02 PM
I own more software than a sane person ought, and over the last 40 years I recall only one case where software stopped working because the developer went out of business—Circus Ponies Notebook. There are a few other cases where the developer opted not to upgrade to ensure OS compatibility. If a developer put a dead man’s switch on the software license validity check, I think I would not buy the software, assuming he/she/they/them/it was on the way out the door anyway.
Amontillado wrote:
Sustainable development is a good thing. I wish subscription software
>came with panic buttons. If the vendor goes out of business, it would be
>gracious to open existing customers to perpetual use.
Posted by Amontillado
Sep 1, 2023 at 02:52 AM
I think I miscommunicated. I think subscription software should continue to work in the event there is no company to renew the subscription with.
The opposite of a kill switch.
Posted by Bernhard
Sep 1, 2023 at 07:04 AM
Paul Korm wrote:
< ... >
>If a developer put a dead man’s switch on the software
>license validity check, I think I would not buy the software, assuming
>he/she/they/them/it was on the way out the door anyway.
>
In the worst case a developer could issue a new version of the software with a permant license before he gets out of business. There was such a case in the past, unfortunately I don’t remember the name.
Another way to mitigate the problem of ending a subscription could be a model like JetBrains. They offer every year a “fallback version” that will continue to work without subscription.
Posted by Andy Brice
Sep 1, 2023 at 09:15 AM
Amontillado wrote:
I think I miscommunicated. I think subscription software should continue
>to work in the event there is no company to renew the subscription with.
I agree for desktop software.
For web software, there aren’t going to keep paying the server bills indefinitely. However they should at least give you a grace period to export all your data.
—
Andy Brice
http://www.hyperplan.com
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Sep 1, 2023 at 01:21 PM
The end of Circus Ponies Notebook was the most graceless exit by a developer I’ve witnessed.
Paul Korm wrote:
I own more software than a sane person ought, and over the last 40 years
>I recall only one case where software stopped working because the
>developer went out of business—Circus Ponies Notebook. There are a
>few other cases where the developer opted not to upgrade to ensure OS
>compatibility. If a developer put a dead man’s switch on the software
>license validity check, I think I would not buy the software, assuming
>he/she/they/them/it was on the way out the door anyway.
>
>Amontillado wrote:
>Sustainable development is a good thing. I wish subscription software
>>came with panic buttons. If the vendor goes out of business, it would
>be
>>gracious to open existing customers to perpetual use.
>