Use of Perpetual Fallback License
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My subscription was good through May 16th, 2018. I've attempted to upgrade to the 2018.1.4 (Jan 4, 2018, no?) version of PHPStorm, but am told my license has expired. My understanding is that I was allowed to use the versions through the end of my subscription period. Is this true, and if so can anyone point me to info on how to validate my license to it.
Thanks.
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Hi there,
First of all -- I'm not JetBrains employee.
Now ... "Perpetual Fallback License" means that you can use IDE when license expires ... but only the version that was current 1 year ago. That would be 2017.1.x for you.
Andriy is absolutely right - that's what fallback means: after your subscription is expired, you can fall back to the major version that was actual on a day when you bought your subscription.
Thanks for the clarification. That'll work for me. I was only upgrading because I thought I could.
What an odd model though... It's like selling a book with 1 year of updates. But you have to give the updates back at the end of the year. Ha!
>What an odd model though... It's like selling a book with 1 year of updates. But you have to give the updates back at the end of the year.
It's more like this: you paying for the version that is available at the moment of purchase... and get the right to "try" updates for 1 year.
>you can fall back to the major version that was actual on a day when you bought your subscription.
Only if it was exactly 1 year ago. Because if you follow this logic letter by letter .. then purchasing for 2 years would mean that you only entitled for 2 year old release... while in fact it's 1 year old.
I agree with Jeff about the situation being misleading. It is a swoon by marketing fish who only care about that next $. The addition of the word fallback actually means you get less. That being said I hope it was cheaper then the full license for a year. Otherwise I would reccomend reporting them to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) because I doubt they would pass a full audit if they are putting effort into swindling the most valuable asset's, the customer. Personally I have never heard of a fallback license before and would assume that they would allow you access to the most recent information (version) you used during contract and if you ever re-installed or wanted to return to a "legacy" version you could with the original file being the place to fallback to. But I believe you should be able to have the most recent experience since you wanted to get it withing liscense range but that's life. I reccomend looking for freeware this world was created for enjoyment for everyone within reason and their are people out there who believe in freedom and peacefulness. Support people who make you want to support them and refuse to pay those who dig.
Andriy Bazanov
I'd say it's more like... if what I paid entitles me to upgrades for that 1-year subscription, that final version is what I should get to continue using if I decide not to renew for another year. I can't imagine that they have a "downgrade" option built-in to what is essentially their "upgrade" process, which means I'd have to uninstall my current version, losing all setup and config, and reinstall the older version. No matter how they try to spin it, it's not an attractive option at all.
@ExTexan
Try looking from the different angle: SaaS (Software as a Service).
There is no "permanent license", only "monthly license", similar to Adobe products -- you can use the service (software) as long as you pay your monthly charge (NOTE: sadly I do not know for sure if Adobe does not have traditional "permanent" licenses any more). With JetBrains here it is the same... but if you pay for 12 months (consecutive 12 months or at once for the whole year)... you are then granted that "Perpetual Fallback License" which you can use even after the "active subscription" has expired. From this perspective it looks like a bonus... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯