[HN Gopher] ST3 Update now is ST4
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       ST3 Update now is ST4
        
       Author : sherincall
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2021-05-26 15:25 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (forum.sublimetext.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (forum.sublimetext.com)
        
       | nzgrover wrote:
       | This was a bit of a shock this morning for sure. Leaves a bad
       | taste in the mouth. Maybe it's time to commit to neovim after
       | all.
        
       | woodruffw wrote:
       | I had this happen to me this morning on macOS: I saw there was an
       | update available, accepted it, and ended up with ST4. I was
       | planning on buying it in the immediate future anyways, but having
       | it sprung on me actually saved me $10 (thanks to the release
       | period discount).
       | 
       | Overall, I'm not too upset about this -- a lot of the commenters
       | in the linked thread seem to think that software shouldn't change
       | major versions without (more) explicit consent, but ST4's
       | backwards compatibility appears to be perfect so far (I have all
       | kinds of weird personal plugins that use less-documented parts of
       | the ST API, and they're all still working). They could have
       | certainly made the update message clearer, but I don't think the
       | developers deserve the kind of indignation they're receiving.
        
         | threatofrain wrote:
         | Software updates shouldn't leave the user with nothing unless
         | they pay. Also, on Linux, there is no indication that the prior
         | license would be invalid, or that the upgrade required further
         | payment.
         | 
         | And the prior license had no expiration date, and the new one
         | expires in 3 years.
        
           | woodruffw wrote:
           | > Software updates shouldn't leave the user with nothing
           | unless they pay.
           | 
           | I didn't leave it unregistered for long enough to confirm
           | this, but: ST has _historically_ been fully functional even
           | when unregistered -- the _only_ difference between a
           | registered and unregistered copy is /was the nag dialogue
           | they display every 10 saves. I don't think it's accurate to
           | say that this update "leaves the user with nothing" -- the
           | update was fully functional (and reversible!) right out of
           | the box.
           | 
           | > Also, on Linux, there is no indication that the license
           | would be invalid, or that the upgrade required further
           | payment.
           | 
           | Same on macOS. I agree that this should have been made _much_
           | more explicit.
        
       | pupdogg wrote:
       | Also happened to me this morning. I gave-in and paid for the
       | upgrade since I've been a happy Sublime user since inception.
       | However, I am very disappointed in the overall performance
       | compared to ST3. Indenting code via TAB takes approx. 500-850ms
       | and is a noticeable delay that would annoy just about anyone.
       | Overall it's a bit shocking. It seems like the creator could've
       | been short on dough and came up with this dark strategy.
        
         | Nicksil wrote:
         | If you have any plug-ins installed, try uninstalling/re-
         | installing to see if one of them might be the culprit. What
         | you're describing isn't normal behavior.
        
           | pupdogg wrote:
           | I will try that. However, I have 2 more instances of
           | problematic behavior which should be alarming to everyone:
           | 
           | 1. I store my project/workspace files under ST's root
           | installation folder and the upgrade DELETED them all
           | 
           | 2. I'm running ST on Win10 and after the upgrade, ST4 is now
           | installed under "C:\Program Files\Sublime Text 3". You would
           | think that there'd be a post-install script to check
           | executable path for 3 and change it to 4.
        
       | bmh wrote:
       | On Ubuntu it's as easy as an `apt upgrade`.
       | 
       | Although I pay the fee happily, this does seem wrong. It seems to
       | me that as a software provider you have two choices:
       | 
       | 1. Make it a monthly (or whatever) subscription for the latest
       | version (eg Photoshop)
       | 
       | 2. Charge for a new version (eg apt install ST3 vs apt install
       | ST4)
        
         | swiley wrote:
         | 3. Let users pay for new features via something like patreon or
         | a consulting firm (depending on if it's a B2C or B2B
         | relationship.)
        
       | javagram wrote:
       | Seems like a bad UI caused by the change that means anyone who
       | bought ST3 in the last 3 years can upgrade to ST4 with their
       | current license.
       | 
       | They should have released a small ST3 update that detects if the
       | license would be valid for ST4 and prompts the frictionless
       | upgrade only for this case, and otherwise maybe just makes an
       | alert that a paid update is available if you want it.
       | 
       | I am planning to upgrade though as I'm a satisfied user of ST2
       | and ST3.
        
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       (page generated 2021-05-26 23:02 UTC)