Chris's Wiki :: blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource Commentshttps://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource?atomcommentsDWiki2016-11-15T20:42:17ZRecent comments in Chris's Wiki :: blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource.By Christopher Barts on /blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSourcetag:CSpace:blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource:82b395e97c3b1ae70af679a2b0950a703affab39Christopher Barts<div class="wikitext"><p>It's an argument for subscription-based software, if anything: If the only guaranteed revenue stream for a piece of software is selling new versions, the software will never be done. If people pay simply to use the software, the software can be done when it's done, and the company isn't losing anything.</p>
<p>Maybe you can call subscriptions "support contracts" if it helps you make the sale, but the point of stable software is that it doesn't need or receive support.</p>
<p>And, of course, subscription-based software is most easily done as Web apps, so you can actually revoke permission to use it for nonpayment. What happens to customers who rely on it after you go out of business, or go out of that business, and your websites go dark is not your problem: You're no longer in business, and/or no longer in that business, so they're no longer your customers.</p>
</div>2016-11-15T20:42:17ZBy David Magda on /blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSourcetag:CSpace:blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource:a44c55feea9c63f80cf47d2524935cd9220abf34David Magdahttp://www.magda.ca/<div class="wikitext"><p>The above comment reminds me of TeX:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>Knuth has declared that he will do no further development of TeX; he will continue to fix any bugs that are reported to him (though bugs are rare). This decision was made soon after TeX version 3.0 was released; at each bug-fix release the version number acquires one more digit, so that it tends to the limit π (at the time of writing, Knuth’s latest release is version 3.1415926).</em></p>
</blockquote>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/FAQ-TeXfuture.html">http://www.tex.ac.uk/FAQ-TeXfuture.html</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Per the above link about <code>Text::Template</code>, it actually may be a good idea to have bi/annual "releases" where the only thing that is done is bump the version number.</p>
</div>2016-11-15T18:56:01ZBy KC Marshall on /blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSourcetag:CSpace:blog/tech/MaintenanceAndOpenSource:89a2ebb65f2ff3ca7b7d5ca99f6cf62dc807417cKC Marshall<div class="wikitext"><p>There is also the possibility that you aren't seeing the stable software because there are so many exciting and new re-implementations shouting for attention. This was an interesting anecdote <a href="http://perl.plover.com/yak/12views/samples/notes.html#sl-9">http://perl.plover.com/yak/12views/samples/notes.html#sl-9</a></p>
</div>2016-11-15T16:17:36Z