Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: MS raised prices so people will now start renting their office products instead

Hi :)
I think that renting could result in better software because it eliminates the excuse that major 
bugs are only fixed in the newer release.  At the moment MS can claim that it's the users fault if 
they suffer a bug because they should buy the new release.  While they probably still will do that 
it will be easier for users to just stop paying for the current release.  At the moment people have 
to keep using the current/old one in order to make the initial expense worth it.  

Effectively the rental model levels the playing field between OpenSource and MS's proprietary 
stuff.  Well, it levels it a little bit at least.  It takes away some of the advantage that 
OpenSource currently enjoys.  How quickly that all plays out is a different issue.  MS probably 
haven't thought about it just yet.  OTH that may be exactly part of their 'sinister plan' (It's not 
really sinister, they just need to make a profit)  
Regards from
Tom :)  






> ________________________________
> From: Marcello Romani <mromani@ottotecnica.com>
> To: users@global.libreoffice.org 
> Sent: Tuesday, 2 October 2012, 7:32
> Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: MS raised prices so people will now start renting their 
> office products instead
>
> Il 18/09/2012 21:38, Jay Lozier ha scritto:
> [...]
>
> > The rental model, in theory,
> > guarantees a stabler cash flow whether the software rental is good for
> > users is another matter.
>
> I totally agree.
>
> At $WORK we had a 3D CAD package that would not work anymore if the licence was not renewed 
> periodically.
> We eventually switched to a 3D package that had a heftier tag price, but didn't force us to pay 
> every year just to use it.
> When the licence for the first package expired, we lost access to all of our previous work. We had 
> to convert everything in a hurry.
>
> It's OK to pay for software "maintenance" (i.e. updates, priority support, etc.), but I find it 
> totally unacceptable to have a software package just stop working if you don't pay the "rent". If 
> I was writing in italian I'd call it "pizzo" - which is a mafia thing - "Stop paying and you'll 
> lose access to your beloved documents!".
> How does it sound ?
>
> -- Marcello Romani
>
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