No, I'm not paying for a subscription

[bonzairob]

I’m very upset about this situation. I really like Sublime Text, and the way you can use it for free was, I thought, a great decision. It’s been my favourite IDE for years, and I’ve resisted colleagues and peers telling me to try out X or Y because of how simple, elegant, and user-friendly Sublime is.

Unfortunately, I paid for my licence 3 years and 3 months ago. Tough luck for me!

To be prompted with “new version! version 4 changelog…” with nothing mentioning a subscription model of all things? Just suddenly seeing “LICENCE UPDATE REQUIRED” at the top of the screen, getting my licence invalidated with no warning? No thanks.

This is so shady, from an organisation that I trusted, that I think I’m done. Time to learn Visual Studio or something. Alternative recommendations welcome.

Someone ping me if they let us buy the software instead of renting it.

[UltraInstinct05]

Please read the FAQ Sublime Text 4 Update FAQ

[bonzairob]

I have… that’s why I posted this…

[UltraInstinct05]

To be prompted with “new version! version 4 changelog…” with nothing mentioning a subscription model of all things?

ST has never gone into a subscription mode as far as I can tell. That’s one of the reasons I had purchased my ST license. Even with ST4, only the licensing terms have changed as mentioned in the FAQ.

Just suddenly seeing “LICENCE UPDATE REQUIRED” at the top of the screen, getting my licence invalidated with no warning?

Your ST license is not invalidated or expired. You can still downgrade to any ST3 version you want and use your license (which is mentioned in the FAQ)

[lkhrs]

Yes, this is a subscription - however unlike most subscriptions, your money gets you 3 years of updates - most subscriptions are monthly or annual.

And this subscription lets you keep an active license for all the updates your received before the license expired.

I will gladly pay $33/year for the best damn editor I’ve ever used.

[facelessuser]

But it’s not a subscription. You don’t lose access to your current version once your license expires.

You don’t have to upgrade, you can stick with the last valid version after your license expires, forever. There will be no nag if you do.

With that said, from what I understand, Sublime is working to improve update notifications to let you know when an update is going to require a license in case you are not ready to upgrade. This is the one area they slipped up with the rollout of ST4.

The only difference is that instead of waiting for a major version to have X amount of new features to justify a major release (requiring a new license) it is now time based. This allows them to release a big new feature frequently without having to hold on to them until they feel they’ve amassed enough features to release a new version.

You don’t have to upgrade when your license expires and you can wait until you personally feel Sublime is offering enough to make you upgrade.

[bonzairob]

Your ST license is not invalidated or expired. You can still downgrade to any ST3 version you want and use your license (which is mentioned in the FAQ)

Already done this, and done the manual update_check: false setting.

Yes, this is a subscription - however unlike most subscriptions, your money gets you 3 years of updates - most subscriptions are monthly or annual.

Cool motive, still a subscription. I don’t have a lot of money, and there are free alternatives out there - plus the one I already paid for.

But it’s not a subscription. You don’t lose access to your current version once your license expires.

Nah, just access to bugfixes. This is just semantic nonsense. In three years time, to get the latest ST4, I would be paying for the same thing, again. If it were a major ST5 update, it would be easier to swallow - this is a shady move and doesn’t engender trust in me, or a lot of other people.

You don’t have to upgrade when your license expires and you can wait until you personally feel Sublime is offering enough to make you upgrade.

Ah yes, because they have just proven that the “update to the latest version” message will be clear, honest and well-thought-through lol

I get that developing software costs money. I get that they need to charge for new versions. I paid for ST3! I just think making it a non-straightforward transaction, a subscription that encourages an attitude of “don’t worry about it, it’ll be years before it matters” in customers, is shady as hell.

That nobody can agree on whether its a subscription or not is only proving my point.

[bitsper2nd]

That nobody can agree on whether its a subscription or not is only proving my point.

You are paying for 3 years of support. The thing is that you can still use it after your subscription expires. Unlike other programs like Netflix or an antivirus that stop working when you reach expiration date. Sublime Text will still work.

[facelessuser]

This is just semantic nonsense. In three years time, to get the latest ST4, I would be paying for the same thing, again. If it were a major ST5 update, it would be easier to swallow - this is a shady move and doesn’t engender trust in me, or a lot of other people.

It’s not semantics, it’s simply facts. Regardless of how you feel, the facts still remain. Subscriptions essentially allow you to rent an application, and once your subscription expires, you lose all access to previous and future versions of software until you subscribe again. I am very much against subscriptions and do not pay for software subscriptions, ever. This is simply not a subscription in any way shape or form.

Nah, just access to bugfixes.

You get bugfix and features for 3 years… I’m not even sure where this wild accusation even came from as it is based on no actual facts.

Ah yes, because they have just proven that the “update to the latest version” message will be clear, honest and well-thought-through lol

I…I’m not even sure what this is arguing. By them admitting they need to improve this, they admit that it is not clear. I’m not sure what your point is.

That nobody can agree on whether its a subscription or not is only proving my point.

Just because some people want to believe in something untrue, doesn’t make your point more true. This is a logical fallacy. People believe in all sorts of false things even when there are overwhelming facts.

EDIT: I will say, the way the upgrade happens is the biggest contributing factor to the confusion. I imagine this is why many feel they are being “forced” into a subscription (obviously not all), but this is simply not the case. Could this be done better? Definitely. All we can do now is wait for them to fix things moving forward.

Anyways, I think I said plenty, as this argument is now going in circles.

[smm]

the upgrade happens is the biggest contributing factor to the confusion

Absolutely this. I don’t appreciate a box with no information that starts bugging me for more money afterwards without warning that’ll happen and without a changelist link.

(It’s especially frustrating when it pops with with the changes after the update and there’s definitely nothing in there I care enough about to upgrade for, and a bunch of obtrusive changes that make me think I’m actively not the target audience – like UI changes that are clearly for laptops. And it doesn’t help that there were apparently no updates for ST3 for all of 2020, making this version bump seem even more in poor faith.)

[simov]

I’d rather pay every few years and get frequent updates and fixes than paying once and be forgotten basically. I think a good move would be to circle in some of the most prolific plugin authors and in some way support them as well, or make their work more visible at least, because we have to admit at this point that as much as we like Sublime for its minimalism, there are certain plugins that keeps it competitive these days.

[bitsper2nd]

I’d rather pay every few years and get frequent updates and fixes than paying once and be forgotten basically.

This is true. I’ve seen several open-source projects being abandoned because they didn’t had the time and money to dedicate full time. I know ST is closed-source, but to add to my first example. There are a lot of proprietary software on mobile phones. Since the price for apps is artifitially deflated, many developers are either forced to go to subscription, add micro transactions. A one time fee doesn’t cover the expenses there sadly.

I think a good move would be to circle in some of the most prolific plugin authors and in some way support them as well, or make their work more visible at least

You are right again. Sadly I don’t think SublimeHQ cares about doing that. They are mostly developers after all. Good news however is that a third-party can step in and fill some gaps. We already have @OdatNurd covering ST related topics on youtube.