Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 140 posts

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#61

Post by op00to »

throwaway1389z wrote: post #32
Tostino wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the purchase medium is a download link the expectation is that the link keeps working if the company is in business. Give a good reason it shouldn't. Edit: also, list your startups. I like to avoid doing business with people who think this way.

Unreasonable and unrealistic expectation. You pay for a copy, you get a copy. Deal is over unless you have problem with the product in that it doesn't work as advertised or malfunctions.

Posting the same drivel twice does not make it more compelling.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#62

Post by op00to »

nightfly wrote: post #25
lobito25 wrote: post #2

This is a blunt warning to anyone who ever purchased, or is thinking about purchasing, FileZilla Pro. I bought FileZilla Pro under a perpetual license - a one-time payment, lifetime right to use the version I purchased. After reinstalling my operating system, I simply needed to reinstall the software I already paid for. Here's what happened: - Support admitted I still have the legal right to use the old version of Fi…

If you bought something from a physical store and lose it doesn't entitle you to go get another one for free...

I bought a Windows license from a university book store. I can download copies of Windows all day if I want.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#63

Post by Brian_K_White »

cowsandmilk wrote: post #51
anonymousiam wrote: post #14

I began installing perpetually licensed software in VMs about 15 years ago. When I upgrade my (hypervisor) hardware, the VM still runs just fine. Obviously, a VM wouldn't be a suitable environment for FileZilla.

> Obviously, a VM wouldn't be a suitable environment for FileZilla. Why not? VMs can be given access to the host file systems.

Do you sell vms or something? It's absurd to even consider running an entire os in a vm just to use the calculator or the notepad.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#65

Post by gruez »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #34
izacus wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why... not? You paid for that software.

Because what you paid for is the software on physical media. Why would any publisher just hand out things for free that they otherwise charge for because you claim you lost the item. Back in the days of physical software, it used to be common to buy and sell used software. The difference between "I lost it, send me a new one" and "I sold it, send me a new one" is a simple lie, that more people than you think would be…

>Yes, but there is no moral argument for requiring it.

Are you sure you didn't butcher a word here? Yes, Firezilla might be in the clear legally if they told the OP to pound sand, but that's not the same thing as having no "moral argument". In most common law jurisdictions, it's perfectly legal to walk past a drowning child and refuse to save him, even if you'll incur marginal cost (eg. 10 min of your time). However that's not you wouldn't say "there's no moral argument for requiring it"

Similar logic applies here, which is that it costs next to nothing for them to provide downloads to existing owners, because they presumably have the digital distribution infrastructure for new sales. It doesn't make sense for a book publisher to send you new copies after your dog ate your book because postage, ink and paper costs money, and if for whatever reason they have a e-book version, it'll be a pain to authenticate that they actually bought the physical book. None of those excuses work for digital downloads.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#66

Post by op00to »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #40

Now go complain to Adobe, where they just shut down their activation servers and leave you with 1k$ of "perpetual" unactivable & unusable software, no matter how much care you took keeping the installer media.

That’s horrible too.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#67

Post by Brian_K_White »

op00to wrote: post #62
nightfly wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you bought something from a physical store and lose it doesn't entitle you to go get another one for free...

I bought a Windows license from a university book store. I can download copies of Windows all day if I want.

So what? So MS happens to feel like providing distribution servers. That has no bearing on anyone else.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#68

Post by pshirshov »

hluska wrote: post #16

I guess we’ve reached a point where instead of taking personal responsibility for our backups, we just try to turn the internet into our personal army against products.

Yeah, we subscription price of an FTP client which didn't actually modernize in decades is justified, totally justified.

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#69

Post by Brian_K_White »

gruez wrote: post #47
nightfly wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you bought something from a physical store and lose it doesn't entitle you to go get another one for free...

But we're not discussing an item from a physical store? We're discussing software sold online.

Why do you think there is any difference? Did servers and backups and data centers and electricity and cooling and ups batteries and generators and facility operators and banwidth all become free while I wasn't looking?

Re: FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" – A Warning to All Users

#70

Post by unsnap_biceps »

jeroenhd wrote: post #60
Etheryte wrote: post #37

While I understand the author's frustration, I think they should take a moment and look in the mirror. A perpetual license doesn't mean that Filezilla should be a free hosting provider for installation media for eternity. Their reasons really aren't that relevant here. Likewise the rant about Mozilla is completely unfounded. There are many things to be upset at in the modern software world, this is not one of them.

I disagree. Hosting licensed copies of software is the norm. Steam does it, Google does it, Apple does it, EA and Ubisoft do it, and all of them host much larger software (including free updates) than FileZilla. Maybe hosting 5GiB image downloads on a dedicated web portal the same way Microsoft does is a bit much to ask, but this is nothing. We're talking 50 megabytes of storage here, per version. They can save thems…

> Hosting licensed copies of software is the norm. Steam does it, Google does it, Apple does it, EA and Ubisoft do it

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they do not store previous versions for you to choose, only the current version.

Post reply on HN