Sublime Forum

ST3 Update now is ST4

#22

I completely agree with this post, and I only joined this forum after 8 years owning the license for ST3 to complain about this update. I immediately installed ST3 back, should I also stash the downloads just in case?

2 Likes
#23

it is also worth mentioning that "update_check": false only works with Sublime Text. I am using a package manager (apt) from which i receive updates. So, as an additional step you should remove it from your package manager if you havenā€™t already.

0 Likes
#24

Worst part: It doesnā€™t seem to be a bug but more an intended feature. Very bad practiceā€¦

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#25

Indeed a very bad and DARK practice! Happened to me today morning and I actually went ahead and paid for an upgrade since Iā€™d been happy with ST since inception. However, that might change with this update. I stored all of my project files inside the root installation folder and this update DELETED them all! Also, after the upgrade ST4 still seems to reside inside C:\Program Files\Sublime Text 3\ folder. Not to mention, TAB to indent takes 500-850ms with ST4. Overall, a big disappointment and a bad start to an already shitty day!

2 Likes
#26

Every great product starts its downfall at some point. I hope weā€™re not bearing witness to that right now. They really need to not only fix this, but make up the trust theyā€™ve lost with this dark pattern, and the latter is the hardest part.

2 Likes
#27

To me it smells of the current webdev culture of everythingā€™s disposable and nothing lasts. Was perfectly happy with ST3 being my main editor for 8 years, with barely any modifications, and could have lived without any updates all that time. Then this happens. Turned off update checking and not updating again.

5 Likes
#29

Have fun in your new journey. You wonā€™t be missed.

1 Like
#30

I agree that the upgrade notice should have been clear that it required a new paid license so that people could choose to upgrade or not without having to downgrade after the fact.

However, I purchased the upgraded license with no hesitation. Think about it: $70 for a three-year license is only $23 per year. If you use Sublime Text on a regular basis, as I do, that is peanuts! Just as you probably like to be paid for your work, so do the developers of Sublime Text who have every right to be paid for their work.

I tried VSCode twice, and hate how bloated, confusing and messy the interface is. ST is much more elegant and easier to use, IMO. So Iā€™m happy to continue supporting it if they keep improving and updating it.

2 Likes
#31

Just want to chime in saying Iā€™m in the same boat. I bought a license over 3 years ago with the assumption that I could continue to use it for the life of ST3, and then a totally innocuous update later Iā€™m suddenly having the program ask for a license key.

The fact this is an upgrade to a new major version with different license terms really needs to be made clear. This is very disappointing.

1 Like
#32

The new licensing terms are clear. Itā€™s not SublimeHQā€™s fault you didnā€™t bother to read.

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#33

The new licensing terms are clear but it wasnā€™t clear from the upgrade prompt that this would be upgrading to ST4. I had assumed it was going to upgrade me to a final end-of-life ST3. Very disappointing behavior from Sublime HQ.

5 Likes
#34

In the real world, its pretty normal for stable versions of software to upgrade to the next major stable version.

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#35

No it is not. First: Before any update or upgrade, the user can read the new version that will be updated to on every other app. So people can decide (when using SemVer) if this update is minor or bugfix. Sublime Text doesnā€™t show anything and it forces you a upgrade.

3 Likes
#36

bitsper2nd: please remind us which processor core has the slowest speed in terms of processing bits per second?

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#37

yes, thatā€™s what the sublimehq ppl told their leaving customerā€¦ not the exact words, but yeah~

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#38

Iā€™m definitely not arguing against ST4 being worth the license price, and the developers certainly should be ā€œpaid for their workā€ but only when the terms of said payment (purchasing a new version) are laid out clearly.

Iā€™m not a coder, myself, and ST3 already more than fulfills my needs for writing and wrangling text. Should I require features ST4 has, Iā€™ll be happy to pay for the upgrade, but I want to make that choice myself.

3 Likes
#39

Except when the ā€œnext major stable versionā€ requires buying a new license. In that case, the user should see a prominent notice differentiating said version as, essentially, a new purchase.

3 Likes
#40

That would have helped. I usually hold off on major upgrades for at least 2-3 weeks, and just wasnā€™t expecting this to be it.

image

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#41

Usually when stable versions of software upgrade to the next major stable version, the next major stable version isnā€™t going to require repayment or a change in license or payment terms.

For folks who want to stay up-to-date with Sublime Text, itā€™s great. For me, ST3 is still just fine and Iā€™m not interested in getting onto the new major version just yet. That might change in the future, but the way that this happened leaves a really sour taste in my mouth.

The only other piece of software Iā€™ve owned that handled a major, license-changing upgrade in this way was 1Password, and I donā€™t use that anymore either.

2 Likes
#42

Hi all,

Thanks for sharing this feedback - we hear your concerns and appreciate the feedback!

We are very excited to share the major improvements in Sublime Text 4, but in our excitement we didnā€™t anticipate the update path to interfere.

Thereā€™s six of us here at Sublime HQ (including me), so we fully appreciate the support and feedback of our community. We will be looking to improve the upgrade path for the future, but weā€™d also like to ensure you enjoy Sublime Text 4 straight away.

If you found that the upgrade path for the first version of Sublime Text 4 was not ideal, just continue to use this version - we want you to try it! There are no nag screens, just an initial reminder about the license.

For those that do want to install a previous version, you can do so with the below instructions:

  1. Download and install a previous version
  2. (Optional): disable update checks by navigating to Preferences ā–¶ Settings and adding "update_check": false

Thanks again for supporting us, and weā€™ll be working to improve the upgrade process in future versions to supply clear information about the upgrade.

Cheers,
- Dylan

3 Likes