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Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#201

Post by hermitcrab »

OkGoDoIt wrote: post #165
crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

Standalone software keeps working more or less forever regardless of the company. I still use Jasc Paint Shop Pro X from something like 15 years ago as my image editing software. It might not be as good as more modern software, but I know how to use it and I don’t need to retrain on something new, which means I can be very fast with whatever I need to do. Subscription-based software including updates is a downside as…

>Standalone software keeps working more or less forever regardless of the company.

That may be true for Windows, but it isn't true for Mac (unless you never upgrade your computer).

I have been writing and supporting the same piece of commercial software since 2005 on Windws and Mac. v1 of my software probably still works on Windows 11. Not a chance on Mac (it has gone PowerPc -> Intel -> Arm in that time!).

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#202

Post by Izkata »

acaloiar wrote: post #192
lamontcg wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the problem with software these days is the constant upgrade cycle. Own-it-for-life means "I expect free updates for the next 20 years" which as we've seen with the mIRC author isn't the best business model. Turns the software developer into indentured servitude to all the people who bought it in the past. The JetBrains model where you own it up need to rent it to get upgrades seems to work reasonably well, but…

I'm curious what you know about the mIRC author's story. As a former mIRC user, I imagine it's interesting lore from the shareware era. Writing mIRC scripts was some of the first "programming" I ever did. Good times.

This was posted on here two weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33864660

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#203

Post by lamontcg »

acaloiar wrote: post #192
lamontcg wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the problem with software these days is the constant upgrade cycle. Own-it-for-life means "I expect free updates for the next 20 years" which as we've seen with the mIRC author isn't the best business model. Turns the software developer into indentured servitude to all the people who bought it in the past. The JetBrains model where you own it up need to rent it to get upgrades seems to work reasonably well, but…

I'm curious what you know about the mIRC author's story. As a former mIRC user, I imagine it's interesting lore from the shareware era. Writing mIRC scripts was some of the first "programming" I ever did. Good times.

I think this is a link to the mIRC issue:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33864660

(Whatever perf issue HN is happening makes it hard to figure out right now)

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#204

Post by haroldp »

sanjayio wrote: post #93
quaintdev wrote: post #6

And this is exactly the reason I self host[0]. I am pretty sure it's not just me. I have seen r/selfhosted[1] skyrocket in it popularity over past year or two. The number of applications that you can self host are increasing daily. The only problem at the moment with self hosting seems to be the maintenance and setup but that also will be solved once many people start doing it. History repeats itself. Self hosting to…

You self-host things that are easily self-hostable. You wouldn’t self-host something like emails or error reporting.

I've self-hosted email and error reporting for decades.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#205

Post by oytis »

crazygringo wrote: post #40

Not really, because I saw too many software companies go out of business because not enough people wound up upgrading to the next major version -- the ownership model of software can be awfully feast-or-famine for developers' income, it's a very tough/risky business model. Generally speaking, I'm happy to pay a subscription because this way I get a steady stream of all the updates, and it's much more likely the compa…

> the idea of "owning" software feels positively archaic to me, as strange as "owning" a music album.

Is it still alright to own a book?

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#206

Post by phrom »

solardev wrote: post #198
lapcat wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> old versions quickly become useless without active maintenance. I think this is somewhat exaggerated. Not to mention that if you're using older versions of 3rd party software, you can use older versions of the OS too. In fact, many people don't like to update their OS version. If it ain't broke... > Meanwhile the subscription services largely keep pace with one another and stay compatible because most users are on…

Is it? A lot of my favorite games no longer work on the latest operating systems because they were on a buy once model. Others had their multiplayer shut down. As for upfront paid software, sometimes it's also just not worth it to the developer to make a whole new version anymore or they shut down. The shareware industry is pretty much dead today, for example, although free trials for cloud subs are still very common…

Those old games still run on the old operating systems, and you can still get those systems because they were also on a buy once model.

If those old games were subscriptions instead, they would probably be unplayable today. Their authentication servers would be shutdown after so few players remained that it wouldn't be worth it for the company to keep it going. Just like a lot of multiplayer games are closed nowadays.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#208

Post by lapcat »

solardev wrote: post #198
lapcat wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> old versions quickly become useless without active maintenance. I think this is somewhat exaggerated. Not to mention that if you're using older versions of 3rd party software, you can use older versions of the OS too. In fact, many people don't like to update their OS version. If it ain't broke... > Meanwhile the subscription services largely keep pace with one another and stay compatible because most users are on…

Is it? A lot of my favorite games no longer work on the latest operating systems because they were on a buy once model. Others had their multiplayer shut down. As for upfront paid software, sometimes it's also just not worth it to the developer to make a whole new version anymore or they shut down. The shareware industry is pretty much dead today, for example, although free trials for cloud subs are still very common…

> A lot of my favorite games no longer work on the latest operating systems because they were on a buy once model.

How long ago did you buy them?

> As for upfront paid software, sometimes it's also just not worth it to the developer to make a whole new version anymore or they shut down.

Lots of businesses shut down, regardless of business model.

> more intentional and less panicked releases

As a software developer, I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone tired of everything being a subscription now?

#210

Post by duckmysick »

lapcat wrote: post #115
Gigachad wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not going out of business, but on the iPad there is a drawing app called Procreate which is a one time purchase. It’s decent, but in the two years I’ve had it, nothing has really improved and there is a whole lot missing or to be desired. Meanwhile some subscription apps have come to the iPad and they are absolutely packed with every feature you could possibly want. For any well run company, the more the users are pa…

By this principle, every physical product in the world would be "a Ponzi scheme".

I thought about it and a lot of physical products we use everyday are either perishables themselves or require perishables for a regular maintenance.

Yes, we aren't forced to buy from the exact same brands like in a subscription model. Practically, we end up buying the same products in a predictable schedule, to keep the wheel spinning.

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