Upgrade versus update

Sat Mar 13 19:09:57 EST 2004

Yes, that sounds reasonable. For example, "known bugs reported during the
sale period of this version will be fixed, or a work-around provided."

Of course in that case a software company would be crazy to release any new
*features* for the current version. It would only make sense to hold them
off until the next paid upgrade, which is reasonable.

doug

On 3/14/04 8:22 AM, "Marian Petrides" <mpetrides at earthlink.net> wrote:

> True.  But the KNOWN bugs reported during that timeframe should be
> fixed as an update NOT an upgrade.
> 
> Kinda like when you buy a car (or a piece of hardware).  If it breaks
> on the day before the warranty expires, you are entitled to a warranty
> repair and a reasonable time period thereafter to be certain that the
> warranty repair did actually fix the problem--typically repairs are
> warranted for 90 days following return of the defective item.
> 
> It is quite reasonable IMHO to expect bugs documented and known to
> exist during the first year of a product's life to be covered by an
> IMPLICIT warranty, even in the absence of an explicit one.  Software
> developers (whether RunRev or you or I) should honor this implicit
> warranty and fix the known bugs with patches or updates rather than
> obliging buyers to purchase an upgrade in order to get the bug-fixes.
> It's a moral obligation, even if it isn't a binding legal
> obligation--which it may or may not be (I'm not a lawyer).
> 
> Marian
> 
> On Mar 13, 2004, at 6:02 PM, Doug Lerner wrote:
> 
>> 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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