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Comment by lylejohnson | Hacker News Reader

> "Sofa’s products, Kaleidoscope and Versions, are not a part of this acquisition. Both apps will remain available and we’re committed to securing a great future for them outside Sofa."

There haven't been any significant updates for Versions since I purchased my license for it two years ago, so I don't see how the situation for Versions could get worse at this point.

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So you bought one license 2 years ago. Presumably it worked.

What's the problem again?

I'm sorry if I was unclear. In their post, Sofa wrote, "We’re committed to securing a great future for [Versions and Kaleidoscope] outside Sofa". I noted that they have not been particularly good stewards of Versions over the past two years, and that therefore the situation couldn't get much worse by handing it off to someone else.

I don't really disagree with the point you make below about software licenses, and that when you buy a license you're paying for the software as it exists today, right now. But I think my take is more along the lines of nestlequ1k's. When I bought a license for Versions, I went into that "relationship" (ugh) with the expectation that Sofa would continue to improve on it, and that I've have the opportunity to buy future upgrades. That's unlikely to happen at this point. So yeah, I got what I paid for, no argument there, but I can't deny that I'm disappointed with how things turned out.

The problem is that new features and improvements are not forthcoming, and when software is closed source it is impossible to take business elsewhere if the copyright holder loses interest.

When you buy a car, do you receive free upgrades?

When you buy software, you expect it to improve over time. Name a mac developer who posts on their site "we're no longer updating this software, but please buy it anyways". It would never get a single sale.

I don't mind paying for upgrades. But I want these upgrades to exist, and for the developers to commit to the product they are selling and improve it over time.

When you buy a license for the software, you are buying the license as of this date. You should not ever buy software for future possible improvements. The only situation in which I'd say it is really necessary is OS security updates.

If any customer ever asks me: "I'll buy it if you add this feature", I always reply: "please buy it based on current features otherwise I cannot promise anything".

You're living in a fantasy world. It may be how you think the software business should work, but it's not how it works.

Your opinion as a software developer means nothing in this case. Ask your customers what they think. You might be able to get away with this strategy for a little while, but it's a surefire way to kill any product. Stop updating an app for a few years and see how great your sales are after that.

I know of quite a few products that have not been updated since the late 90's, early 2000's and bring in quite a nice chunk of change.

The common characteristics:

* The customers are not whiners: Does it work? Yes? Sold

* Non-trivial problem: Inventory, computer graphics, math

* Pricing: Expensive

So, ok, some company making a subversion interface stopped updating their software. Someone else picks it up because it's /easy/.

That's why you don't make software for software developers! Sell them chairs or something.

These guys keep making money because the problems they solve are hard.

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