Comment on - Buy Once Software
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 4 weeks agoI’m happy to pay for software, but I want more than just permission, I want long term security that my investment in the tool will last.
If IntelliJ would open source their oldest versions, I would make my boss buy me a copy of the nearest every year.
tias@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
That sounds good on paper, but the chances that someone else will pick up the ball if they abandon it, even if it’s open source, are very slim. If you care about keeping it alive then paying them is a more effective strategy than hoping for random volunteer work by internet strangers.
You, on the other hand, have good chances of being able to learn new tools. So I think the need for this guarantee is exaggerated.
pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
I’m a developer, so my chances are pretty good. But I take your point.
Even if I weren’t, there’s enough software options out there that I don’t have to pick between paying for proprietary software and living with abandonware.
Of course. I used proprietary software for a long time. Having things I relied on get abandoned got old, but it worked.
I just expect more from most of my software, now.