Hi there,
I’ve been evaluating ST for a long now and I’m ready to make a purchase, but I have some doubts for the following cases:
Must I have a license for all three cases? Just for the 3th case? When?
Thanks.
Using a Personal License at Work
As licenses are per-user, you’re welcome to use your license key on all computers where you are the primary user, including at work.
And the cases where I’m not using at work/job, as said: personal use, not for a company.
Should I buy Sublime?
The buying page says “Sublime Text may be downloaded and evaluated for free, however a license must be purchased for continued use.” But there is no formal definition for continued.
AFAIK, people can try ST for free, currently without a time limitation if they want. There may be a popup windows (or something like that?) upon saving file.
If you want a dev (nightly) build of ST, you will be asked for a license.
To be crystal clear; once you buy Sublime you can use it anywhere you like, for anything you like, with anything you like – as long as you are the primary user of the machine it is being used on.
So I can use “free” Sublime for whatever I want, just skipping those “buy popups” even to make money with it (comercial projects)? There isn’t something ilegal about it?
Buying is just a matter of ethics not laws?
Once I buy Sublime I can use for whatever I want. And until I buy it? What are the restrictions? Legal restrictions not features…
Or you could just buy it to support the development (although there hasn’t been much news on that front, fair disclosure).
I have never regretted my purchase.
As @jfcherng said:
If it comes down to a lawsuit against you (which is very questionable), then the court will need to define this “continued use” as something more precise. So we can’t exactly tell how long or much you are allowed to use the free version, but legal consequences are very unlikely. There are probably thousands of ST users that have been using the free version for as long as ST2 exists, and nobody is going to sue them.
That said, you really should purchase something if you use it often. This is more of an ethic reason.
I’m not arguing to not do so, I’m willing to buy it. Just got this doubt crossing my mind.
Thanks @FichteFoll, that was clarifying.
BTW, I sent an email to sales@sublimetext.com, any replies I post here.
Sorry, I hope I didn’t come across as snarky. I understand the concern, and I was trying to imply that it is money well spent 
Here is the sales response:
Apparently buying is something like donating and it’s all about ethics, not legal requirements 
As soon as I can afford it (70 USD is 31% of a Brazilian minimum salary 
) I’ll do it.
in brazil you should work around 17.5 hours. (brazil minimum wage)
in mexico you should work 17 days (mexico minimum wage)
