NASLite Network Attached Storage

Tony, thanks for your courteous reply. This thread has gone off at a complete tangent and we have had some indifferent posts. Hopefully it will make people think, what do I do when my 180 day window expires and how do I obtain an update?

Back to my original post.
Your database is smart enough to know who to inform when an update is available.
Your database is smart enough to know when the customers 180 limit has expired.
Your database is not smart enough to know when the customers 180 limit has expired and not email them with a tempting eagerly awaited update, only to be told you can not have it, your time is up!

How about improving your database to email expired download customers the offer to purchase the update at token cost. Would save the disappointment of download denial and give the option to your customer to update or not. Only a thought..............anyway I am giving up on this one now!

Mont

Is this a first?

A Serverelements person has written the word "BUG".

I actually carried out a quick search of the forum for that a while ago, but no hits.....

I shall test the 2.04 release soon to see if it fixes the 2.03 NFS problem(s).

If NFS transfers work ok, I'll revert to 2.03 to ensure the unchanged hardware still crashes. If so, that was a BUG which SE silently fixed without addressing that in the forum or accompanying documentation.

It beggars belief that SE has the gall to not give free bug fix updates. It's unacceptable to mask bug-fixes along with "New features" to get away with charging for what is legally required to be fit for purpose when bought. It doesn't matter if NL2 was bought years ago, bug fixes must be free of charge. Maybe this is why "bug" never appears?
It seems that SE is reluctant to ever admit problems with their software. There can't be any "corrective action" unless there's agreement that there exists the possibility of a problem!

Only if several people report similar problems does there appear to be any, sometimes begrudging, active response.

It's also disappointing to see churlish replies from SE & interestingly the odd sycophantic forum member ridiculing *paying Customer* observations that could indeed indicate NL bugs, which at least warrant further investigation.
This is especially surprising considering SE markets NL2 towards relatively inexperienced users. Any problems & they are invariably pointed towards card, cable, device etc. replacements. In many cases, one of those categories *is* a problem, but not *all*.

The fact that you have "pulled out power supply cables" etc. to "prove" the software quality is irrelevant to *paying Customers* who *do* have genuine problems.

Software which is traditionally marketed to inexperienced users typically provides diagnostic software which can gather pertinent information rather than wasting many hours of such a user's time. Even for experienced users no proper command line interface exists to conduct tests.

The download limit as an "anti-piracy" issue is meaningless. Only a valid serial + unlock etc. will allow it to work usefully. The iso could be freely posted with no impact on SE.

That's exactly what we are trying to do Mont. We don't want to loose people's support, so we are working on a fix that will allow people to revalidate their link. This shortcoming was brought to our attention only a day ago after a new release. Please allow us some time to react. It's a bit hectic here but we are working to resolve it.

tvjohn,

The kernel performs all NFS services. The kernel introduced in v2.02 has been deemed stable and has been unchanged since v2.02. I assume you are talking about your NFS problems described here:

http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=1526

We couldn’t replicate the problem on any of our test boxes. I did ask if anyone else is having that problem, to please speak up. No one did. What exactly is the bug and what exactly do we fix? How do we confirm that it’s the software and not your hardware? Is it an isolated instance?

I’d agree with you if Ralph and I hide under the desk when hordes of people start coming forth with the same problem. But when there is only one instance, we are likely to discard it as an isolated hardware issue. Is that not the proper conclusion?

Well, I seemed to have really stirred up a hornet's nest!

In my mind the following summary points come up:

1) Bug fixes for paid products should be free. It is unclear if we have had repeatable demonstratable bugs though.

2) End user consensus seems to be that nobody likes the download limit idea. License control is done by registering not by limiting downloads. I can't think of another s/w distributor that does this.

3) All users are happy with value for money with NL pricing, but I am not alone in wanting to have updates for the program I purchased (i.e. ver 2.x). Many, including myself, are happy to consider a reasonable charge for maintenance as an option.

4) Maintenance should not be confused with buying another license at discount. The former provides up to date s/w for the existing cpu, whereas the latter buys another (updated) cpu license. Clearly the former should be cheaper!

I await with baited breath the development of SE's policies and hope to be able to get 2.04 sometime...

Cheers,

Not a hornet's nest at all Paul, the point you made initially is valid and needs to be addressed. Ralph and I have discussed this in depth the last day or so and here is what we propose:

On expiration, the message you get will also display a button that will allow you to revalidate the link (reset to 180 days / 15 downloads) for a cost of 15% of product value.

Approaching the problem in that way will allow us to keep the prices where they are, continue to offer the 35% off on cross-product upgrades and additional license purchases as well as allow people to revalidate existing license download links.

Existing license revalidation is currently not possible and is in fact a shortcoming in our distribution system. We think that the proposed change should correct the existing problem.

That's 15% every 6 months or 30% per year! Seems a tad on the high side just to keep within the same product version, like 2.x. Surely incremental updates do not compare to 1/3 of the entire product's development?

My goodness, ten bucks a year! And the year only starts six months after the initial download! Come on guys, it's inexpensive software (notice I don't say cheap?), that does the job, and the SE guys provide a first class, personal service.

It reminds me of the post some weeks (months?) ago by the guy who complained that he didn't expect to have to read a 25 page manual for a 30 dollar piece of software!! Maybe if SE charged $100 people would gripe less!!

C’mon Paul, nickel and diming SE for 5 stinking bucks is probably a bit out of line. I agree with you that single license holders need a way to keep their access to updates, but really now. The sjdigital comment above is right on and pretty much should put things in perspective.

I feel that for a lot of people it's more a matter of principle than the actual amount.
patches should be free
upgrades at a reduced price is fair

But it's good to see some clarity in the update/upgrade policy

Server Elements have come up with seems a fair upgrade option.
It is a solution to what has hacked off myself and others in the denial of download after the 180 day limit has expired.
Realistically $5 or £2.50 would not even buy a beer here in the UK!
If you want the upgrade of added features, go without a beer!

Totalchaos said:patches should be free,upgrades at a reduced price is fair.
I don't think we will ever see a patch, as it means the dreaded word 'BUG'

mont

I just wanted to clarify a few things,

They do admit to bugs and do their best to resolve them.
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

and the 14 days later v2.01 was ready for download
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

Problem Formatting Large Array?
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

If you took the time to read the above post you will notice that the sfdisk binary is bugged and nothing to do with serverelements.

http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

Would be more than happy to pay $10 pa for software support on such a good package.

Gaiden wrote:I just wanted to clarify a few things,

They do admit to bugs and do their best to resolve them.
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

and the 14 days later v2.01 was ready for download
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... 518a16ad87

Chargable download or free? BUGFIX or enhancement?
The words muddled and confused are coming to mind!

mont

OK Mont,

In the six months you get upfront, you will end up with multiple stable and bug free releases, so in therms of functionality you should be up and running without a problem. Even if you'll have to drop down a release, you should still be happy with the results.

Are the SE terms ideal? No, but a small business needs to keep their head above water or check out. The man told you that in an earlier post. Cut them some slack already. They are obviously trying. Considering what they are charging for the software and the bull they have to deal with, I'd say they are doing a damn good job.