[doxavore]

This. The JetBrains licensing model is great. Subscribe to get updates, with a perpetual fallback license for the last version when your subscription lapsed. Their old versions also continue to work across OS upgrades, etc. If you subscribe, the annual fee decreases substantially for the first few years. This is nothing like Adobe's Creative Cloud.

[rolleiflex]

I thought their fallback perpetual license is actually for the version you had when you purchased it, not for the version that was available when your subscription lapsed?

Not sure if they changed this recently - I stopped following them when they switched to subscription with fairly onerous terms (which they rectified after backlash to ‘mediocre’, but never to ‘fair value’).

[doxavore]

You're correct in that the current terms are a result of community backlash, or at least that's how I remember it. What would you consider "fair value" for such a tool? And does that include any period of updates and enhancements?

[rolleiflex]

I would personally be okay with a perpetual license plus one year of updates, and keeping the last version at the end of the paid-for update period. Pretty much what they have, but you get to keep the updates you get, not just the initial version you purchased.

The reason this is more fair is that I am paying for the version and one year of updates. Jetbrains has no right to say at the end of the period that since I did not renew, they are taking back the updates they gave me, as if it was by their grace I had been given the updates. I paid for the updates, I get to keep them.

That said, they have every contractual right to enforce whatever they think is fair, and I have every right to recommend against their products and/or prevent the bulk purchase if I am in a decision-making position about it.

[mthoms]

My subscription lapsed just before the New Year and I wasn't able to continue to use the software I had already installed.

In order to keep using it, I would be required to downgrade to the version available at the beginning of my subscription. 12 months ago.

If there are show stopping bugs in that version, then too bad. If it's not compatible with your current projects and plugins? Deal with it.