> I don't expect my tools to be free, but I do expect that if I pay for them, they do a better job than the free competition.
Seems like an inverted way of thinking. The price of a products (software, hats, airplanes) is whatever the seller thinks people will be willing to pay. If the competition is free and is better, why are you even considering paying for something that is worse?
I paid $59 for ST2 in order to get ST2, not in order to fulfill some abstract notion of "better than the free competition". Of course, I already knew that the product worked for me, having tested it for several months, which the seller allows, no strings attached. If you buy ST2 based on the mistaken idea that it guarantees "better than the free competition", then you're making a philosophical mistake.
Now that I have paid, what should we expect? Some support, at least. The seller has a moral obligation to maintain and support the product. I think Jon Skinner has failed his customers in that respect; as the OP points out, ST2 development has been stalled for a very long time. I myself have reported a number (4, I think) of bugs that have received zero response.
Seems like an inverted way of thinking. The price of a products (software, hats, airplanes) is whatever the seller thinks people will be willing to pay. If the competition is free and is better, why are you even considering paying for something that is worse?
I paid $59 for ST2 in order to get ST2, not in order to fulfill some abstract notion of "better than the free competition". Of course, I already knew that the product worked for me, having tested it for several months, which the seller allows, no strings attached. If you buy ST2 based on the mistaken idea that it guarantees "better than the free competition", then you're making a philosophical mistake.
Now that I have paid, what should we expect? Some support, at least. The seller has a moral obligation to maintain and support the product. I think Jon Skinner has failed his customers in that respect; as the OP points out, ST2 development has been stalled for a very long time. I myself have reported a number (4, I think) of bugs that have received zero response.