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Use and support open source where ever possible

Hello its HP...we have an all new printer subscription model we would like to sell you. Give us money monthly. Or better, give us money every time you use the printer!

The way it works is you pay for the printer, take it home, install the software and connect it unnecessarily to the internet where a hacker can easily hack your pii. Then we monitor your ink levels and printing count. If you use it, we charge you per page. If you're running out of ink, we'll charge you monthly and send you a new bottle. We'll monitor the room temperature and sell that information to the power company. We'll monitor for loud notices and send that to ICE and to shoe making companies so they can either deport you or sell you new shoes. Aren't printers awesome?

I myself also hate to pay for subscriptions and heavily favor to buy something only one time. But I also understand why something like software is sold as a subscription. If you take "normal", physical products like smartphones, cars or literally almost anything else, it is accepted that you have to buy a new one every few years (the time span obviously varies from product to product) and that repairs will also cost money, at least after the guarantee ends. But software is expected and required to be maintained, thus costing the developer money even after you bought it. Online features also lead to sever costs. Because of that, a subscription can be compared to paying for car repairs and maintenance. I think it would be fair if you bought a version of a product for a fixed price, which you could use indefinitely and then to take a small price to upgrade to newer versions.

There was a map app I liked better than Google Maps because you could download any map you wanted for route planning and if you wanted traffic info etc, you had to buy the app for those features. But if you had to go places without cell connectivity. you would still be able to find your way.

Anyways, I liked it so much I payed 25 bucks to buy the app. Purchasing it gave me access to everything the app could do. Then Literally 6 months later, they were bought out by another company and rebranded and didn't honor people who bought the app. Instead I would have to pay a monthly fee to use it..

I got rid of it and will never buy another app again.

Boomer? Thats just a HUMAN complaint!

FOSS users pay zero times.

Though hopefully contribute in other ways, like code improvements (not necessarily to every project:-).

Are wages a subscription service?

The only excuse for subscription model is when there is cloud storage/sync or server provided functions that are a core part of the software.

If I didn't rely heavily on the cloud storage and syncing part of Lightroom for editing photos seamlessly on desktop, mobile, and web, then I would already have dropped Adobe for Darktable and a pirated copy of Photoshop CS2 for when I need to print.

Picard would be ashamed.