[seanhunter]

The problem with one-off pricing is that people generally don't want just one drop of software. They want ongoing updates and support. Which means if your pricing model is only one payment, in that world you're going to have a future cost stream but no future revenue stream to support it.

That's why software businesses with a one payment pricing structure often end up going bust - they rely on a structure where they need constant growth in their customer base to sustain support of existing customers. The software coompany going bust isn't in the interests of customers who want support either so this model just doesn't really work for anyone.

If a one-off payment is matched by a customer expectation of a one-off software install with little or no ongoing support then that's probably fine.