I got out of the subscription software pool a number of years ago, for the reasons that this article is presenting.
I also disable (or block, if I can't disable) automatic updates because I realized that I couldn't stand having the software I use change underneath me without warning. Especially when that change involves features being removed or the update breaking things.
I'll only update after I am pretty sure the update won't give me grief.
I miss the days when updates were things I looked forward to rather than dreading them as I do now.
That is precisely what prompted me to write this article, it was an update to a piece of software I require to use for work that suddenly just stopped working properly.
That's actually a point I wish I touched upon more in the article, how SaaS and the ability to patch software issues later down the line made sloppy coding a norm, because you can always just push a patch and expect your users to update to resolve their issues.
Whereas back in the ol' days (promise I'm not that old) a bug in your software would essentially mean severely dissatisfied costumers that may not purchase the next version from you
I got out of the subscription software pool a number of years ago, for the reasons that this article is presenting.
I also disable (or block, if I can't disable) automatic updates because I realized that I couldn't stand having the software I use change underneath me without warning. Especially when that change involves features being removed or the update breaking things.
I'll only update after I am pretty sure the update won't give me grief.
I miss the days when updates were things I looked forward to rather than dreading them as I do now.
That is precisely what prompted me to write this article, it was an update to a piece of software I require to use for work that suddenly just stopped working properly.
That's actually a point I wish I touched upon more in the article, how SaaS and the ability to patch software issues later down the line made sloppy coding a norm, because you can always just push a patch and expect your users to update to resolve their issues.
Whereas back in the ol' days (promise I'm not that old) a bug in your software would essentially mean severely dissatisfied costumers that may not purchase the next version from you
Related:
Software Can Be Finished
https://rosswintle.uk/2025/10/software-can-be-finished/ (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45568950)
Oooh that's a good one, saved for later!