Upgrade versus update

[Marian Petrides]

I couldn't agree more with all the points you made.

Marian
On Mar 13, 2004, at 5:56 PM, A.C.T. wrote:

> Hi, Marian,
>
>> Ah, but what happens when those bug fixes come bundled with major 
>> feature enhancements?  Is that an update or an upgrade?  Sounds like 
>> an upgrade to me.
>
> That's an "upgrade", as it carries "major enhancements".
> Please don't get me wrong on this: I am willing to pay for "upgrades" 
> (that I need) and I am expecting free "updates" where necessary!
>
> Now if a company decides to NOT bugfix their product "for free" for 
> the honest customer the result - at least on the long run - will be: 
> less customers. That's just what the market is like: The way you deal 
> with your customers defines the way they deal with you. I have bought 
> my license from Runrev because I think Revolution is a product that 
> may help me creating some specific products. I haven't really started 
> using it (as I really get headache from Transcript), so I cannot tell 
> if I "need" an update or an upgrade right now :-)
>
>> I like your idea about having a choice in which upgrade you want to 
>> take.  I hope you'll post on this list what happens when you try to 
>> use your free upgrade to go from 2.x to 3.x, because I suspect this 
>> is an eventuality that RunRev had not anticipated and had not 
>> intended.  Clever reading on your part!
>
> Well, that's just what the license says: "Your key is valid for the 
> current release and one upgrade." It does not say "and the next 
> upgrade available", it clearly says "and one upgrade". So it is my 
> choice which upgrade I want to have for free: if there are major 
> enhancements in the next version it's most likely that I choose that. 
> If the next-plus-one version is two years ahead, it's very likely that 
> I also choose the next version as well. But if the frequency of 
> upgrades should be three/four a year, it's very likely that I do not 
> upgrade to the very next but one of the following versions. According 
> to the license that's what the key is for: "one free upgrade". I 
> consider this a fair license and I am going to change some of my own 
> licenses according to this idea.
>
> Back to "updates": Software nearly never ever is "bug-free". A 
> cooperative way to keep your customers satisfied is handing out 
> "patches" (or call them "updates"), because this shows: You do care 
> for what you have done. That's true especially for companies that have 
> limited resources: The smaller your budget is the more important it is 
> to have satisfied customers (I tend to call them "partners") that are 
> willing to pay for "real upgrades", because you fix the bugs you made 
> in the product you sold them. Only big companies can allow themselves 
> to ignore that they have made mistakes (do I need to name some?) and 
> "sell every bugfix as an upgrade". From the cooperative side this 
> leads to short-term partnerships, and it's up to the company to decide 
> if they prefer that to long-term partnerships with customers/partners 
> that pay for "real upgrades" because you care for your product.
>
> Marc Albrecht
> A.C.T. / level-2
> Glinder Str. 2
> 27432 Ebersdorf
> Deutschland
> Tel. 04765-830060
> Fax. 04765-830064
>
> _______________________________________________
> use-revolution mailing list
> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
>