Aparajita
Well, even better as my new project is for a non-profit! Do you
have an ETA on availability for 4.5, I will be purchasing a deployment
license for my client when you are ready!
Regards
Mike Erickson
Automated Solutions Group
On Jul 30, 2008, at 3:35 PM, Aparajita Fishman wrote:
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in replying to your questions, I wanted to wait
until I got some more feedback so I could answer all of the
questions at once.
First off, I'm renaming the "Supreme" support option to "Gold". So
henceforth I'll be referring to Gold support.
One thing I forgot to mention: academic/non-profit pricing.
$130 per license
$99 per year for Premium support
$270 per year for Gold support
You mention that hotfixes and bugfixes are only under the Supreme
option. I assume that any deployment would get these (e.g. 4.5.0 ->
4.5.1), right? The thing they would have to pay for is upgrades:
4.5.0 -> 4.6.0.
Bug fix releases (4.5.0 -> 4.5.1) are always free of charge. If you
have Gold support, you can get a bug fix version before the general
release.
There will be a charge for major releases (4.5 -> 4.6), but any
support contract entitles you to a 35% discount. For example, if the
upgrade from v4.5 to v4.6 is $199, if you have a support contract it
will be $130.
What will be required if a server (or a network card) dies, and a
site is moved to new hardware or a replacement (or redundant as in
our case) NIC is employed?
You will need a new key, just like you need a new key now for IP
address changes. But I am hoping change of hardware will be less
common than IP address changes.
I have two sites that need to move forward but are "stable", what
would be my "upgrade" cost?
v4.5 is considered an upgrade, so if you have a current license in
force (for any version of Active4D), I will of course honor the
previous license agreement and give the upgrade to v4.5 free of
charge (minus extra support).
Anyone who has purchased a full deployment license within the last
year will be put in the Premium support plan, with the expiration
date one year from their purchase.
Any renewal payments within the last year will be credited towards a
support plan if you wish to purchase Premium or Gold support.
I am starting a new project, $270 sounds great, when upgrades come
along what will be the plan, another $270?, this is very acceptable
in my opinion, but I need to know now to present to my clients.
The exact price of the upgrade depends on how much work went into
it. The upgrade to v5 (4D v11 compatible) will require a
substantial rewrite, so it will cost more. It won't be more than
$270 though.
what's you definition of a hotfix version? How quickly will it be
available and how long before an official bug fix version?
A hotfix version means I give you a prerelease version that fixes a
specific bug that you are unable to work around. There is no hard
and fast rule as to how quickly that bug fix would make into a
release version. It could be days, it could be months.
What is Object Tools state of compatibility with 2004? v11?
ObjectTools has been 4D 2004 compatible for a while. I'm hopefully a
week or two away from v11 compatibility.
How does this affect the OEM program?
Here's the new OEM deal:
- Licenses will cost a flat $199 per license, no cumulative volume
discounts the way there are now (because the price is now >50%
less). If you have special needs and a large number of licenses, the
price is negotiable.
- To join the OEM program requires an initial purchase of at least 5
licenses.
- To qualify for OEM discounts you must purchase at least Premium
support.
Up to now, I have been using the mailing list to initially submit
bugs
to your attention. Does it mean that, as a single developper, I
would have
to spend 700$ a year for the same kind of collaboration between the
two of
us.
If you want direct email support and hotfix versions (as I have
*very* generously been providing until now), you would have to
purchase Gold support for $700. If you are satisfied with
communicating through the Premium support forum and can wait for bug
fixes, you will only have to pay $270.
I have to do it this way, my time and expertise is the most valuable
commodity I have. If you want premium support from any software
vendor (including open source) these days, you have to pay for it.
4D charges at least $700 for top-level support. Adobe charges at
least $1200. And so on.
With regards to support subscriptions, we're normally a
proponent (ExtJS, 4D Partner program, etc.). However, after using
Active4D for so many years, I can't see us paying for support unless
anything fundamental changes in the codebase
Remember, there is NO guaranteed support from me without a support
contract, including on the public mailing list. Also, I didn't
mention this, but without a support contract you are entitled to 1
change of MAC address, after that a support contract is necessary.
The most urgent priority for me is V11.
Active4D and v11 is going to be a hugely powerful combination...
Believe me, I hear your cries. As soon as ObjectTools v11 is done,
I'll start on Active4D, but I don't anticipate a release until
October.
I would be very grateful if you would like to offer a testimonial
for Active4D that I can use in promotional materials (iNUG, web
site, etc.) Also, if you have public sites written with Active4D,
please let me know.
And once v4.5 comes out, if you really love Active4D then I would
encourage you to say something on the iNUG about how great it is.
The more users the better for all of us.
Thank you for your feedback, and thank you as always for using
Active4D.
Regards,
Aparajita
www.aparajitaworld.com
"If you dare to fail, you are bound to succeed."
- Sri Chinmoy | www.srichinmoy.org
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