1) Purchase software and pay additional for upgrades if you deem the upgrade worthy of purchase. 2) Go with the subscription model where " updates " are laughable because they don't need to entice you to keep buying their product, you already are.
Problem with #1 Your " purchased " software is only operational as long as the authentication servers allow you to " activate " it. The moment those servers are gone, so is your " purchased " software. So, while you're not paying for it as an
1) Purchase software and pay additional for upgrades if you deem the upgrade worthy of purchase.
2) Go with the subscription model where " updates " are laughable because they don't need to entice you to keep buying their product, you already are.
Problem with #1
Your " purchased " software is only operational as long as the authentication servers allow you to " activate " it. The moment those servers are gone, so is your " purchased " software. So, while you're not paying for it as an ongoing subscription, it still has a limited shelf life. By design.
To a point:
When Adobe lost their CS2 activation servers, they made alternate CS2 downloads available that did not require activation.
When they deactivated their CS3 activation servers, they allowed the affected users to convert their Acrobat/Contribute/etc. CS3 key to a CS4 key, and essentially gave out a free major version upgrade.
Of course there are no guarantees, like when microsoft terminated their ironically named "PlaysForSure" DRM validation servers.
Sometimes, a third choice is necessary (Score:2)
The official options:
1) Purchase software and pay additional for upgrades if you deem the upgrade worthy of purchase.
2) Go with the subscription model where " updates " are laughable because they don't need to entice you to keep buying their product, you already are.
Problem with #1
Your " purchased " software is only operational as long as the authentication servers allow you to " activate " it. The moment those servers are gone, so is your " purchased " software. So, while you're not paying for it as an
Re:Sometimes, a third choice is necessary (Score:2)
The official options:
1) Purchase software and pay additional for upgrades if you deem the upgrade worthy of purchase. 2) Go with the subscription model where " updates " are laughable because they don't need to entice you to keep buying their product, you already are.
Problem with #1 Your " purchased " software is only operational as long as the authentication servers allow you to " activate " it. The moment those servers are gone, so is your " purchased " software. So, while you're not paying for it as an ongoing subscription, it still has a limited shelf life. By design.
To a point:
When Adobe lost their CS2 activation servers, they made alternate CS2 downloads available that did not require activation.
When they deactivated their CS3 activation servers, they allowed the affected users to convert their Acrobat/Contribute/etc. CS3 key to a CS4 key, and essentially gave out a free major version upgrade.
Of course there are no guarantees, like when microsoft terminated their ironically named "PlaysForSure" DRM validation servers.