[HN Gopher] FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" - A Warning to All...
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FileZilla Pro "Perpetual License" - A Warning to All Users
Author : lobito25
Score : 51 points
Date : 2025-11-27 21:13 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| lobito25 wrote:
| 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 FileZilla Pro that I originally purchased. - Then they
| told me they refuse to provide the installer for that version. -
| Their excuse: "For security reasons we do not provide older
| versions."
|
| The impact:
|
| If a customer cannot download the installer, the "perpetual
| license" is dead. It doesn't matter what rights they acknowledge
| on paper - they are blocking any practical way to use the
| software unless you pay again under their new subscription model.
|
| There is no way to reinstall. There is no way to access the
| product you bought. Your "perpetual license" effectively becomes
| worthless the moment you reinstall your OS or lose the installer.
|
| Full text on link.
| whatevaa wrote:
| Lifetime licenses are basically a scam these days. Don't trust
| any of them.
| willis936 wrote:
| And instead trust that subscription prices will stay constant
| and that the company will always stay in business and support
| the product you purchase?
|
| The root issue is trust, not a lifetime license. In fact, a
| lifetime license is a good predictor of trust because users
| prefer it to subscriptions and it indicates that the company
| at least pretends to be interested in the customer's wants.
|
| Trust can always be abused, as in this case. Trust is gone
| everywhere. That doesn't mean it can't be rebuilt. It won't
| be rebuilt on a subscription model that no one asked for.
| didibus wrote:
| I admit it's a bit shitty, but I can also understand.
|
| You could have saved the installer, put it on disk, you could
| find a copy of it elsewhere, etc.
|
| I don't think it makes the idea of the license void, but it's
| for sure not the nicest customer move.
| grugagag wrote:
| Sounds like piracy may solve such problems (of course just
| for the binaries)
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| You can understand what? You're listing workarounds, not
| justifications.
|
| Since it would cost them roughly nothing to keep old
| installers around forever for paid users, it's really hard to
| imagine a justification.
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| Why did they not mention what the operating system is? I don't
| think it unreasonable for a company to no longer support
| operating systems that are also unsupported.
| cosmotic wrote:
| Sounds like all software from the 70s through 00's.
|
| Did they ever claim they would hold a backup of the installer?
| viraptor wrote:
| There's a difference between "we don't have it anymore" and "we
| won't provide it for security reasons". They're not the same.
| benatkin wrote:
| They are essentially the same as software purchased from the
| 70s to the 100s though - shrinkwrap software.
|
| Perpetual license is also a good descriptor. If you have the
| same OS you downloaded it on, hopefully you have it backed
| up.
|
| The scenario "we won't provide it for security reasons" only
| shows up as a gotcha. That X user would know better than to
| use it.
| firesteelrain wrote:
| I guess this is akin to Microsoft not allowing you to download
| Windows XP any more.
| 51Cards wrote:
| I have a folder in my server where I archive the last several
| versions (usually 3-5) of all software I install. It would have
| helped in this situation but the main reason I started doing it
| >25 years ago is in case companies disappeared.
| znkynz wrote:
| Funny project, funny people, funny ideas. There is some really
| black and white thinking around feature requests on their forums
| - for example, segmented ftp downloading for their ftp client.[1]
|
| They are not, nor have ever been interested in solving customer
| problems. That's ok; that's their privlidge.
|
| 1 https://trac.filezilla-project.org/ticket/2309
| anonymousiam wrote:
| 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.
| hluska wrote:
| 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.
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(page generated 2025-11-27 23:00 UTC)