Upgrade versus update

[Doug Lerner]

Of course, after a certain amount of time, expecting bug-fixes on older
versions wouldn't be reasonable either. Every software product has a
"supported lifetime".

For example, if you found a bug in Windows 95, Microsoft would hardly be
expected to provide a fix a this point in time.

After a year or two following the major release of a software product,
usually it's time to go on. Otherwise it becomes too expensive a product to
support and sell and nobody could afford to buy it.

doug

On 3/14/04 7:56 AM, "Marian Petrides" <mpetrides at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 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
>> 
> 
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