There's a similar thread going on over at RenoSCCA in the board member's forum because we're in the same boat over there too, but I figured we have to have this conversation here as well.
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Originally Posted by sperry on RenoSCCA
So, here's the skinny on our licensing for the forum software:
Apparently vBulletin has dropped their previous support scheme. In the past, they simply charged $40/year to keep your license active, and as long as it was active, you were eligible to download the latest version of the software.
But now, there is a new major revision of the software (4.0) and with it they're changing the licensing fees. They are no longer continuing the $40/year licenses. We will have to purchase a 4.0 license at the upgrade price of $175. However, this license will allow us to download the latest 4.x.x versions of the software without paying a yearly recurring fee.
The confusing part is that in order to continue to have access to the latest 3.x.x version of the software as patches are released, you must purchase a 4.0 license!
In the long run, it's simpler, but likely a little more expensive than the old licensing scheme.
We are currently running version 3.8.2. Version 3.8.4 is the latest version, which I have downloaded, but not installed. I have no immediate plans to upgrade to 4.0, but if we want to keep up with the latest patches, we will need to purchase the 4.0 upgrade license before Mar 1. If we're happy running the current stuff without patches, we can delay purchasing the 4.0 license until we do need a patch, but we will not get the upgrade price and will instead have to pay $195 for the full 4.0 license.
The only reason to consider not upgrading eventually is because the 3.x.x version of the software is nearing its end of life. The only patches coming out will likely be for bug fixes and security patches. And the good news is that they will release critical security patches free of charge as long as we're on the last version of the 3.x.x branch when our current license expires.
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So, SECCS is looking at around a $200 cost to continue with an active vB license. Dean pointed out on the RenoSCCA that the alternatives are getting better (like phpBB, which we used to run here before upgrading to bB), but I immensely prefer the vBulletin forum software over the alternatives, if for nothing but it's familiarity and similarity to all the other boards I frequent, so I'm not really keen on switching to something else.
Currently, my plan is to let our current license expire, and simply grab the latest version of the software available just before it does. We should have access to any critical security patches, but if they roll a minor revision out we may not have access to it, or to the security patches that come out for it. At that point, we will likely have to make a decision about buying a 4.0 license. But hopefully vB's final 3.x version will be 3.8.4 and we won't need to upgrade for a long while.
Thoughts?