Fast Report VCL 6 licence "subscription"
LurkingKiwi
Wellington, New Zealand
I see that VCL6 now requires purchasing annual maintenance to continue receiving minor updates, as well as the full price repurchase when V7 comes out.
When did this start - I've never heard of it before?
Comments
See here: https://www.fast-report.com/en/news/show/release-fastreport-vcl-2020.0/
That link was dead yesterday, and isn't useful today. However, I have looked at the news items directly.
Please confirm, as well as the 30% per annum subscription for bug fixes, there will be an 80% charge (based on a 20% upgrade discount) whenever you decide to increase the major version number?
Please confirm, as well as the 30% per annum subscription for bug fixes, there will be an 80% charge (based on a 20% upgrade discount) whenever you decide to increase the major version number?
No, 30% per annum subscription for bug fixes and new features only
That link was dead yesterday, and isn't useful today. However, I have looked at the news items directly.
Use https://www.fast-report.com/en/news/show/release-fastreport-vcl-2021/
Well, the current licence on the web site says that for 1 year I get updates:
"provided that the Updates shall not include a new subsequent releases of the Software bearing a new first numeral such as 7.0 or 8.0 (“New Releases”)"
I am with you 100% LK!
I fully appreciate the economics of delivering software like FastReport. It is not like "consumer Apps", and so I accept that the Fast In Rush Team needs to get the "cash flow" right. I also appreciate that when software gets to a mature state, new releases have much smaller increments of new "must have" features. And also Vcl is possibly nearing its "end of life" and so is a less attractive platform for development.
However, I've just paid the "subscription" to go from Vcl 6 Enterprise to Vcl Enterprise 2021, having paid to go from Professional to Enterprise less than a year ago. I wouldn't have done either without the discount offered at both times (although with Exchange Rate variations that can be a "lottery").
If this is going to be an annual thing, I want a simpler licensing model without the arbitrary and apparently random "discounting" that we've seen in recent years.
I want to be able to "budget" for this, and make a sound financial choice about it.
Cheers, Paul