The problem with rent-to-use is that you pay a lot and you also get bugs that are never fixed, and all the usual issues. If updates were rock solid, or near enough, there would be less hostility.
And there should always be a read-only option that can get a project into a transferrable output format, so your work isn't perpetually locked inside a subscription.
That's really the only difference between paid annual updates and rent-to-use. One allows you to keep using the software until the OS around it stops being current. The other isn't just a subscription to the software, it's a lock around your work.
> The problem with rent-to-use is that you pay a lot and you also get bugs that are never fixed, and all the usual issues. If updates were rock solid, or near enough, there would be less hostility.
In fairness, that laregly depends on the vendor. BBEdit is a great example. It's been around for 30 years, it's reasonably priced and gets regular updates. Big ticket upgrades have been worth the lower upgrade price. Maybe it's the exception that proves the rule, but I've had a similar experience with the significant majority of indy devs I've bought software from. Big Corps are a different proposition entirely...
And there should always be a read-only option that can get a project into a transferrable output format, so your work isn't perpetually locked inside a subscription.
That's really the only difference between paid annual updates and rent-to-use. One allows you to keep using the software until the OS around it stops being current. The other isn't just a subscription to the software, it's a lock around your work.