CBSubs 3.0 goes GPL !

ozneilau wrote:

nant wrote: Nope - that's not the case.
It was 100% our decision made based on hard facts having real data from GPL and non-GPL business models. Actually I will be writing a future blog sharing these facts with everyone.

Not wanting to enter a debate here regarding JED policy link you posted and I will not respond further to any similar followup comments about this. Just a note that CBSubs is not a Joomla extension. It cannot be installed using the Joomla installer. It works over Community Builder which works on more than one CMS (not only Joomla).

Back to issue at hand, please open contact ticket so we can really help you with your specific issue.

OK, I'll have to take your word for that and I look forward to the blog post. The CBSubs 3.0 GPL release timing (2 days before the new JED rule will be enforced) must just be a coincidence then.

No need to just take my word for it - see the initial decision indicator made back in July with the release of CBSubs 2.0.2 and the GPL release of API.

www.joomlapolis.com/news/18311-cbsubs-202-and-developer-api-access-released

Yup, CBSubs GPL took a long time to create. Lots of refactoring, many improvements (performance improvement and memory footprint drop are major) internal testing and of course live production test (here on Joomlapolis as we eat what we cook) before we could give the green light to release this brand new product.

We are very happy actually to have its release take place during the holidays.

I do understand that CBSubs is not a Joomla extension but the new JED policy would affect your Community Builder listing and that was the point I was trying to make. I understand why you don't want this discussed here and are keen to shut down the discussion. I'm grateful you have responded and was half expecting the post to be deleted.

I will log a call as suggested.

Thanks.

Neil.

We very rarely delete posts unless they are rude, directly insulting and foul language related. Actually I can remember only 1 user that we banned in over 9 years and since then we actually became good friends with this user - go figure.

Yup, glad you agree that CBSubs is not a Joomla extension - which means that it could be listed on same website as other Joomla GPL extensions (e.g., CB) - which of course now is a moot point as everything on Joomlapolis is now open-source and GPL.

Waiting for your contact ticket to help out with real issues now

With careful consideration, this move is really better and cleaner as the old model for maintenance and users monitoring can be confusing and cumbersome. So thumbs up for that.

However, people like me who have upgraded from 500 to 5000 or more can't help but feel this switch made us look foolish to have upgraded. Hopefully you can take this into account as upgrade cost to a 500 and 5000 (or more) should not be the same. If this is not handled carefully, it makes your customers lose confidence and hesitate in CB product upgrading in the future.

Thanks for listening.

davidjoomla11 wrote: With careful consideration, this move is really better and cleaner as the old model for maintenance and users monitoring can be confusing and cumbersome. So thumbs up for that.

However, people like me who have upgraded from 500 to 5000 or more can't help but feel this switch made us look foolish to have upgraded. Hopefully you can take this into account as upgrade cost to a 500 and 5000 (or more) should not be the same. If this is not handled carefully, it makes your customers lose confidence and hesitate in CB product upgrading in the future.

Thanks for listening.

As Beat and I have repeated earlier in this thread ... we really want this to work for everyone, so please contact us (use the contact form below) and state your case so we can assess as we understand that everyone is a special case.

Have read the explanation and still the model is flawed...
GPL and unlimited everything is GREAT! - still feel punished for being an early adopter...
Basically pay, and pay again when a great release developed

I can't argue that CB Should be able to capitalize on its new software - however at the expense of its subscribers, even a discounted rate doesn't feel right

- CB offered Lifetime - Should honor those, PERIOD!
- CB offered Maintenance - Should honor the maintenance and upgrade at no charge until the maintenance renewal occurs - then charge the upgrade fee - Discounted but less than the 75% offered. Maybe 50% because it is on the cycle, after ~30 days from that 100%

Will 2.0.2 continue to be maintained? or is it all being pushed into the 3.0 development?

So Does maintenance for 3.0 GPL Subs Cover Future releases? 4.0?
- Maybe now would be a good time to clarify terms for those who are purchasing for the first time!

With other developers this is always tricky -
- Those that were in at the early levels usually get rewarded not PUNISHED!
- Any additional expense before our expiration would be a Punishment.
- Any discount is still an additional unexpected expense

hmossessi wrote: Have read the explanation and still the model is flawed...
GPL and unlimited everything is GREAT! - still feel punished for being an early adopter...
Basically pay, and pay again when a great release developed

I can't argue that CB Should be able to capitalize on its new software - however at the expense of its subscribers, even a discounted rate doesn't feel right

- CB offered Lifetime - Should honor those, PERIOD!
- CB offered Maintenance - Should honor the maintenance and upgrade at no charge until the maintenance renewal occurs - then charge the upgrade fee - Discounted but less than the 75% offered. Maybe 50% because it is on the cycle, after ~30 days from that 100%

Will 2.0.2 continue to be maintained? or is it all being pushed into the 3.0 development?

So Does maintenance for 3.0 GPL Subs Cover Future releases? 4.0?
- Maybe now would be a good time to clarify terms for those who are purchasing for the first time!

With other developers this is always tricky -
- Those that were in at the early levels usually get rewarded not PUNISHED!
- Any additional expense before our expiration would be a Punishment.
- Any discount is still an additional unexpected expense

Hi hmossessi,
Thanks for your feedback and your proposal, but we would kindly like to draw your attention that your proposal is more expensive for you than our current early GPL adopters offer.

Usually, companies change a pricing model to increase their profits, but as you can see it is not our goal with our very generous offer.

But before going into details, we need to correct 2 misunderstandings in your post:

• CB is free and has always been GPL. You are already using this GPL product for years on your websites. So your CB references I assume are meant to be CBSubs 2.x proprietary licensed product references.
• The CBSubs proprietary license you purchased still works and will continue to work on your website during its lifetime, even after your maintenance period expires on your license.

The announcement we are discussing in this thread does state the following:

• CBSubs 2.x proprietary product is discontinued.
• CBSubs GPL 3.0 product is released with traditional commercial GPL membership model subscription (as is typical with most GPL products in Joomla)
• A migration upgrade proposal has been offered to all existing CBSubs proprietary license customers to migrate to the GPL model.
• This early migration offer ending on Jan 31st provides existing customers with substantial discounts to migrate now.

Thanks for your proposal, it is indeed showing how good our early GPL embracers proposal is :
Monthly cost with your proposal: (75€ / 17 months 4.41 Euro per month
Monthly cost with our early GPL migration offer as you have valid maintenance: (37.25€ / 12 3.10 Euro per month

As you can see, even in your particular case with almost 5 months of non-GPL maintenance left, our proposal is more fair and generous. Definitely, if we would have wanted to maximize our profits, we would not be making this special migration offer now. Also, to be noted that the pricing is very low: We are speaking here of the cost of a coffee for 2 at your local Starbucks *per month* for something that should be greatly helping you or your association making automatically much more revenue. We will also reply to your ticket, as we do not want anybody to be unhappy or feeling treated unfairly about this great migration to CBSubs GPL.

Thanks for bringing up the other good questions you asked, here are the replies:

Will 2.0.2 continue to be maintained?

NO, CBSubs 2.0 (NON-GPL) is discontinued, but your current proprietary license will continue to be honored (still fully working), allowing you to migrate to the GPL licensed CBSubs GPL 3.0 product whenever you feel ready.

or is it all being pushed into the 3.0 development?

YES, we strongly believe in the open-source model and its huge benefits for everyone.

So Does maintenance for 3.0 GPL Subs Cover Future releases? 4.0?

YES, maintenance covers all future CBSubs GPL product versions.

We are now following up your proposal in your contact form request as we do want everybody to be happy about this great migration to CBSubs GPL.

Hi Guys,

While I am happy at the general changes I need to explain to a client why their 'lifetime' upgrade last year will need to be replaced by an annual fee of €149

They don't care that they get unlimited users and can use it on unlimited sites as they only have one site. Their membership base is limited so the arguments about upgrades due to numbers don't stack up either.

What would you suggest I tell this client?

Upgrading my own membership to Developer at a cost of €395 a year for 3 clients at present seems like overkill. (Which when I started the process the system showed a starting price of €304 and not €295 as advertised, which pro-rata means a final bill this year of €204.)