Sublime Forum

I thought ST licence was for Lifetime but now I see an "Ugrade Required" message

#2

I’m not sure who “they” it is you are referring to, or the exact quote that you are referring to, but I purchased Sublime way back in the Sublime Text 2 days as well (before 2014), and it was very clear that the license was for the entire ST2 series. When ST3 came out, I had to buy a new license or stick to ST2. Now that ST4 has been released, a new license is requrired (granted, terms of the license are now a bit different for Sublime as of ST4, but a license is still required for the new version(s), etc.).

Yes, your ST2 license is always valid for all ST2 versions, that should not have changed. And if you had a license for ST3, it should be valid for all ST3 versions. It was never promised it would be valid for any future, major versions, just minor versions and bugfix versions.

Now, if your ST2 license has stopped working for ST2 versions, then you should contact support as maybe your license has somehow been leaked and banned. I’m sure they can correct it for you.

If you are complaining that your ST2 license does not work on ST4, then your license will not be valid, though I would be surprised that you didn’t notice this when ST3 came out years ago as it also would not allow an ST2 license.

With that said, people who bought an ST2 license very close to the ST3 release were allowed an auto-upgrade to ST3. I don’t recall the year ST3 came out, so maybe your purchase matched up with that timeframe. But it had always been clear that a license would not be for every release under the entire lifetime of Sublime’s development, only for the major version under which the license was purchased (see Sublime Text’s new terms for ST4).

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#3

just my 2c because i think the previous reply covers the issue but…

I am ULTRA ULTRA uppity about certain marketing methods such as crippleware or nagware. I REFUSE to purchase either… most of the time : )

I purchased an ST2 license even though sublime text is nag-ware and upgraded to an ST3 license which is now valid for ST4 till my license period expires. I can pretty much guarantee when my license expires im clicking the purchase button again if Im still coding then : )

Sublime Text is worth every penny he charges for it and more and if you have been using ST2 since 2014 you have absolutely got your moneys worth out of it… Trust me… you WANT to upgrade, ST4 is worth the price and is superior to ST2 in many ways.

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#4

@facelessuser @mark4 Thank you for illuminating me. I got angry because I thought that they violated the “Lifetime” term. I have no problem to pay for a licence. Actually, I don’t remember buying ST3 licence. I always use the ST2 one that I acquired in 2014.

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#5

Thats ok, I get pissy when I think ive been ripped off too and usually regret it later lol. I dont think you were ripped off, I think your ST2 license was for ST2 and possibly overlapped onto ST3 if you purchased it just prior to 3 coming out.

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#6

Note also that lifetime licenses are inherently unsustainable and I’d personally be skeptical of any software offered under those terms. You either end up upsetting customers by abandoning the software because you can’t pay for further development or upsetting customers by changing the license terms to fund updates. You can’t get indefinite development from a fixed initial payment.

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#7

I’m having the same Issue. I bought an ST3 license and now I’m getting nagged to buy a new ST4 license. If I wanted to buy an ST4 license, I’d upgrade to ST4.

On further research it appears ST4 is already downloaded and installed on my system by the update software nag screen with no notice that I was upgrading away from the purchased product. What is the solution here?

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#8

Yes, this has been discussed extensively.

  • You can redownload the latest ST3 version: https://www.sublimetext.com/3. Your license is still valid.
  • Later versions of ST4 have improved the upgrade dialog as they realized, as you have as well, that that the upgrade dialog really needs to notify the user they are about to download an unlicensed version. Unfortunately, such changes are not going to be backported to ST3, so the latest version of ST3 is also the last version of ST3.
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#9

So uninstall what was pushed on me without any warning or notification and then reinstall what I actually paid for and make hacky solutions or live with a nag.

The solution is clear. Uninstall and switch to a product that has better business practices.

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#10

No “hacky” solution needed. Simply reinstall Sublime Text 3 and use the old license.

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#11

By the way, to keep using ST 3, add update_check: false, to your preference if your ST 3 is licensed.

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#12

Note that the nag popup doesn’t show even if the build you’re using is not covered by your license, it’s only the title bar which has anything. If you wish to downgrade to a build that you’re licensed for we’ve got documentation on that here: https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/previous_versions.html

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#13

I write code in a professional environment. I purchase the software I use and expect the software I purchase to not be titled things like ‘Sublime Text - (LICENSE UPGRADE REQUIRED)’ as if I pirated it. That’s not the name of the product I purchased. The solution is to uninstall and use something else that can be trusted not to pull such nonsense. All good things come to an end as they say.

If I had been told at upgrade time about whatever amazing features that ST4 has and that if I wanted those features I could buy a new license, and that my ST3 updates are over that would have been one thing, but that’s not what’s happened here.

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#14

I write code in a professional environment. I purchase the software I use and expect the software I purchase to not be titled things like ‘Sublime Text - (LICENSE UPGRADE REQUIRED)’ as if I pirated it.

It doesn’t mention ‘Sublime Text - (LICENSE UPGRADE REQUIRED)’ unless you are using an unlicensed version. If you do not want to use an unlicensed version, use the one that is licensed to you, which is ST3. If you are using ST4, and you do not have the appropriate license, you will appropriately get the notification. This is exactly what I would expect. I cannot fathom why someone would be upset at the software telling them they are not licensed when they are not licensed. Yes, you have an ST3 license, but you do not have an ST4 license. There is no credible argument here.

It’s already been covered that the upgrade dialog was unfortunately poorly thought out for this situation, and almost everyone agrees with this. It has been fixed in recent versions, but ST3 is not receiving any more updates. If you like ST3, download the latest, turn off upgrades, and you should be fine, and can use it forever, or until the time that it no longer runs on future operating systems.

The dialog misstep is a minor inconvenience to recover from at worst. What software developer doesn’t make mistakes at times? Major companies sometimes brick computers with their latest operating systems. I’d have to argue this is far less of an inconvenience than that. The company isn’t scamming anyone or tricking people to buy licenses. Tons of people were testing ST4 before it went live, but unfortunately, this issue was not captured simply because the betas were licensed to ST3 users while the official one was not.

Of course, if you’re dissatisfied with ST3 (which it sounds like you weren’t), or you are just unhappy that your ST3 license will not apply to ST4 and simply refuse to support future development by purchasing a license, you can happily use something like VSCode, Vim, Notepad++, or purchase a license to something else – there are a lot of options out there.

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#15

I cannot fathom why someone would be upset at the software telling them they are not licensed when they are not licensed. Yes, you have an ST3 license, but you do not have an ST4 license. There is no credible argument here.

Because I never upgraded to ST4, it was done for me without warning. That’s the whole point. All it would take is a quick patch to ST3 so that when it gets to the end of updates and sees ST4 it warns you. If you opt out, it just stops updating. Very simple.

Of course, if you’re dissatisfied with ST3 (which it sounds like you weren’t), or you are just unhappy that your ST3 license will not apply to ST4 and simply refuse to support future development by purchasing a license

You make a lot of assumptions here. I have purchased multiple licenses for both ST2 and ST3 and brought others on to do the same. With the attitude of the ‘misstep’ that will never be corrected and an even worse attitude here, I can only conclude that it’s not a product I wish to use anymore, which is disappointing because I really like the editor, it’s lightweight and just enough for many jobs. I don’t like the attitude that comes with it and the user-shaming those that question why the title bar has turned into something unacceptable, just before I uninstalled it someone from IT was at my desk and saw the warning title bar and questioned me on whether I was using legit software or not.

Sure I could jump through a couple of hoops now that I’ve been schooled on why I’m the problem and get back to a clean ST3 install, but that doesn’t correct the underlying attitude issue.

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#16

Because I never upgraded to ST4, it was done for me without warning.

This has already been covered, yes it didn’t notify you, which has been stated is due to Sublime not thinking this part through. No one has denied this part was poorly executed, but there is a way to continue with ST3 without this happening again.

All it would take is a quick patch to ST3 so that when it gets to the end of updates and sees ST4 it warns you. If you opt-out, it just stops updating.

I do not deny this would fix this from occurring. Sublime has chosen not to update ST3 anymore. I don’t work for Sublime, so I cannot comment further than that.

You make a lot of assumptions here.

The only assumption I made was based on the fact that you sounded happy with ST3 and were angered about the lack of being notified before the update took you to ST4. Everything else was simply a generalized statement. I do not know why there is such anger about this.

I get the annoyance, I have had similar annoyances with different software over the years, but they were simply annoyances. I am not an apologist for Sublime either. I think the update dialog was poorly thought out for this situation, which I have emphasized multiple times.

Do I think an update to ST3 to resolve this issue would be nice? Sure, but I don’t know the complications this causes for the ST team as I do not know what has gone on under the hood for ST4 vs ST3. For whatever reason, they’ve chosen not to update ST3. None of this makes ST3 a bad product, at least to me. But I do think this was an unfortunate misstep by Sublime.

While I do not think this misstep makes ST3 bad, you are free to take your business elsewhere or to stay. This question has been asked multiple times, and there doesn’t seem to be anything changing in regards to patching ST3. As a community, most of us have moved on from this discussion. Some possibly left, some maybe went back to ST3, and some upgraded to ST4. All I can say is that I am doubtful, after this much time, that anything is going to be different than what has been suggested.

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#17
  1. Maybe annoying, but just downgrade to ST3
  2. set "update_check": false,
  3. remove any linux package repo registration to prevent package managers from bringing back ST4 (in case you are running on Linux)

That’s the sublime way of life.

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#18

Yes, you are the one with the bad attitude. Explanations and solutions have been given to you already. I suggest you follow them instead of using this forum to complain over something so frivolous.

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#19

Yes, you are the one with the bad attitude. Explanations and solutions have been given to you already. I suggest you follow them instead of using this forum to complain over something so frivolous.

Thank you for making it perfectly clear, the options are well presented and I’ve made my choice. Such a sensitive subject!

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#20

one question … who decide when it’s time to move from st4 to st5 ?

I mean, without a roadmap i have 0 confidence in buying one licence (in this case, renewing my old st2 licence)

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#21

There won’t be any ST5. Basically the major versions have been abandoned. It’s just Sublime Text from now on.

A license enables you to receive updates for 3 years. A private license keeps valid forever, but you’ll need to upgrade if you want to continue getting updates. You can however decide to not upgrade and keep going with the latest available / valid built forever.

Details can be found at https://www.sublimehq.com/sales_faq

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