4.5 years, skewed by v12 age
Reasonable assumption.
That's reflected in the table note:
Don't forget inflation. The price of Opus has remained fairly constant for 20+ years, while inflation means the price was effectively decreasing for the whole period.
(I wish GPU prices had done the same!)
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DOpus 8 cost $85 AUD in 2004, which would equate to $142.33 AUD today per $85 in 2004 → 2024 | Australia Inflation Calculator
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I found my Directory Opus 6 purchase email dated June 11, 2002.
My Dual DO6 License cost $115AUD .
I don't have the exchange rate data to USD or anything else of that time.
I do remember GPUs were ridiculously expensive about the time of Windows Vista and dual card setups.
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Thanks for the data point! That's $202.33 AUS today
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At first I was a little disappointed to see the move to subscription, I bought Opus in 2019 so I've had good use out of the licence. I put my licence code into the upgrade and after conversion it only cost me £27 and I'm good for the next two years. I'm absolutely okay with that, these guys need to make money and if it goes towards supporting an amazing piece of software that I use everyday and it means we get more updates quicker then even better.
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I miss the Left Side Software Webcam looking down to see a Melbourne Tram.
Thanks Jon.
Opus developers do not live in a "magic" bubble where inflation does not increase their cost of living. If you agree that Opus developers (like the rest of us) deserve a decent living, unencumbered by a de facto loss of income, then you need to find a way to compensate for that loss. I remember when a pint of beer cost 50 cents. Now I pay seven times as much.
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It is more reasonable to purchase the current subscription and keep the license for the old version. Subscription payment can ensure that developers have enough funds to invest in development and updates, and in fact it will also better ensure the quality of updates. I hope there will be more amazing features in the future.
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This model is good
You pay for the product and its yours for life.
However once you've bought you will not buy another one until new version, so developers are left making less or no money after purchases level out. They have website costs, taxes, wages to pay. Other companies go off and make new software neglecting their other software just to make money. Directory opus don't want to do that but they still have to make money, so a yearly maintenance fee funds them.
How many of you have subscription TV or Gym membership?
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Every time one of these discussions start there are always people defending subscription pricing, which is what empowers companies to keep doing it. I hear the same comments repeatedly "it costs less than a cup of coffee a day"... well, everyone on the internet wants me to buy them a cup of coffee every day and, frankly, I'm tired of it. If all these software developers are struggling to make ends meet due to outrageous overhead maybe they should throw in the towel and get another job. Starbucks is always hiring and they pay subscription pricing... every two weeks.
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Not you arguing that no Directory Opus is better than a new Directory Opus. If so, how could you even say to care about and be disgusted by any new version and change in the pricing model? Let alone without the software actually becoming more expensive.
Just think of it as a perpetual license with 1 or 2 years of updates. I do think they should have marketed it as such, if not just for people like you, for that is what it actually is opposed to an actual subscription.
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That is even more expensive / worse, because if you stop to pay for TV or Gym you cannot use it any longer. You can not use it in a frozen state....
But Opus 13 can be used further, you get only no further updates.
Like it is now for Opus 12, 11, ... You can use it without paying anything, but get no updates.
So I think there is a difference between a real subscription where you have to pay to be able to use the software (I really do not like that for software) and a maintenance subscription that affects only the updates in future. Here you can stop to pay, but still use the software.
Which other software (then Opus 12) does get updates after years without paying anything? Most software never gets any updates besides 1-2 after release for the biggest bugs.
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To me it seems, you should simply earn more so you can afford prices. Your "overhead" is possibly too big too, or you're simply bad at making profitable deals for yourself. I hear Starbucks is hiring, always hiring.
And using stuff for free - well, it's only working because some people pay that cup of coffee. Why not you? If your tired of getting asked, you may consider stop using free software altogether?
(corrected some spelink) 
2024-01-24 181708
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How would you deal with bugs or even new features that Microsoft, for example, introduces when it "improves" Windows?
It is difficult for software developers to write code that is forward compatible.
It's pretty standard workflow actually. You fix on release branch and port the fix to development branch or vice versa. The problem as I see here is that any fix would need to be ported to ALL release branches (for a major version though, I imagine) - and tested and released.
I was going to post exactly this.
It's quite common when you purchase software that it comes with x years of maintenance upgrades or it might be until a new version comes out. You don't have to upgrade and can carry on using the old version at no extra cost.
Ultraedit, for example,offer a "perpetual" licence that comes with" 1 year of software updates (with optional renewable maintenance)" which is what we have here (except it's 2 years as we're upgrading from 12 to 13)
The term "subscription" suggests the MS office or Adobe model where when you stop paying your use of the software ends too
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I mean I have a 5 pack now. According to the pricing page it would cost me roughly $50 a year for maintenance. That's reasonable imo. This model is sustainable for GPSoftware and not cruel to end users.
I'm happy that they moved to this so Opus can continue to be developed.
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Having the prices in AUD instead of USD is yet another unnecessary complexity in the pricing scheme of Dopus. If there will be or not a price hike we'll see in a few years anyaway. Yearly pay + Upgrade Pay + Pay for skipped years. If I am wrong and It costs the same, then I'm wrong, not a big deal for me. I'm not a hater, just seeing all this changes frustrates me. Dopus took a lot of time and resources to be organized as I needed. While it is a very good software, it is complex and unintuitive, doesn't have any mainstream appeal and after investing money and time into it I just want to get the payback aka become more productive. As long as it gives back what I pay for it I will continue paying.
All being said, thanks for the discussion and your opinion.
They are an Australian company... why would the pricing be in USD?
As an American I want to point out not everyone is from America. Most people in the world do not buy things in USD.
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