Phil’s Diary - [Blog @ http://www.philsdiary.net/]
So Movable Type 3.0 is out.
So what’s new?
- Comment management, including registration for comments
- Object callbacks for developers
- Internationalisation
- Background Tasks (such as rebuilds), for a smoother, quicker interface.
- Archive Filenames, using sub-folders to store archives in.
- New Licensing terms.
Most of the above have been known about for a while, especially the more important aspects. But the one that’s come out of the blue is the licensing changes.
So let’s quickly discuss those changes.
First the comment management. This has been in the pipeline for a while and is a sorely needed solution to Comment Spam. The solution that’s been released is a little more complex than simply forcing users to register on your site before they comment. It allows a central registration for all MT blogs, thus saving users multiple registrations. It also has multiple configurations, so if you don’t really like or want users to register centrally, you can drop that.
All in all, I’d say it’s most definitely needed, and useful too.
The object callbacks, and other architectural changes should allow plugin developers even more flexibility in creating and integrating their plugins. A nice idea, but for most people, something they’ll not even notice.
Internationalisation is a strange one as most of the functionality is already in place in previous versions. This I think will reduce the hacking needed to get it working.
Background tasks, it’s possible this has quite a lot of benefit, for example creating a new post while the other is rebuilding. However I do wonder if there will be a lot of wastage as a build is done, then done again rather than being queued as it might have been if the user were making the decisions and having to wait.
The archive filenames, and folders are a good idea, but not really applicable to anyone who’s already got an MT blog, as any external links will break if it’s used.
Finally the licensing. This is causing a lot of upset at the moment. The main reason is the quite high cost and restrictiveness of the licenses.
Now this is based on the current “developer’s edition” offering. It’s possible I guess that a normal user version could appear soon, and cost a lot less, and have less restrictions. But that’s hypothetical at the moment.
The pricing structure has already changed once today. The free version would stop me from doing the MusingsOf.Us site, as you can only have one author.
So we move on to the $70 ($100) package. This allows three authors and 5 separate sites. That’s pretty pricey, but of course it gets worse, if I want to host a site for two friends or family, there’s more than three authors and I need to spend $119 ($150) on the next package up.
Non-introductory prices in brackets
That’s a lot of money for a personal site. The commercial licenses run at $200 ($300) - $600 ($700) for up to 20 authors and 15 blogs. Quite pricey also.
This is a pretty big shift away from the old free versions and the ability to make a $20 donation to get your name listed on the site when you update.
So let me discuss these two points separately. First the cost. And second the restrictions.
One the cost front it’s a shame that the old donation method couldn’t continue. After all a fair number of people start out on this diary road and then drop out shortly after (heck, look at the Daynotes.Org “on hiatus” section).
Also the costs for anything other than the free version really are quite high. $70 is a lot, and after the introductory period, $100 is a heck of a lot. And that isn’t one off cost. That entitles you to updates and fixes, but not major upgrades.
And this is for non-commercial use only. So people like me, who don’t charge readers, who don’t make any money from here. And it’s still quite expensive.
Everyone wants a free lunch though. So what about the attitude change that’s required along with charging big bucks?
Well in the past the basic MT product has been good, but the best thing about it has been the expandability. I use and have used numerous plugins to add to the site. Not just widgets from the menu, but plugins used in the body of the diary too. These plugins have all been developed by people outside of MT to make the things better. This community spirit has attracted a lot of users, and made MT quite a good product.
But I guess Ben and Mena want their Ferrari, and so now it changes a little. I wonder if they realise how much MT is just the core of what makes MT good. I guess so as they’re now running a competition to promote plugins development for the new core. It’s kind of a shame that when you realise that your product is made excellent by other people, that you then start charging rather than sharing.
Anyway, company’s need to make a profit, the donation scheme was good, but obviously not making enough money for them.
So onto the licenses.
Well this is the thing that’s really hitting people. They might have been happy to pay $70/$100 for a license to use MT. But having MT then restrict how many authors (only 3!) and sites you can set up is really rather restrictive. And that’s upsetting a lot of people. It’s obvious that some of the ways people use MT causes their blog usage or author usage to be slightly higher. But what really hurts is that MT charge for this.
In my mind this is really a big problem. I really think they should have gone with an unrestricted license, or pretty high limits (20? 50?) for personal use. After all, we’re talking about people running these for free.
I guess what’s really the icing on the cake is the fact that this latest release actually has very little value. It adds very few useful features, and costs a heck of a lot with plenty of restrictions.
I’m not sure I’ll be moving anytime soon. I’m guessing a fair few others may well just stick with what they’ve got, or find a less restrictive alternative.
MT is good. But it’s not that good.
Posted by Phil on May 13, 2004 07:34 PM | Categories: Technology
"One the cost front it’s a shame that the old donation method couldn’t continue."
Having messed with computers for over 20 years I have found about the donation method for software very rarely works. What I have always found interesting is that the technically inclined people, especially programmers, who are most likly to use shareware are also the least likly to ever pay for it. This despite the fact they make a living writing code. I don't know how many programming shops I have been in that use WinZip daily but never bother to pay for it.
Posted by: Joe Hartman at May 13, 2004 8:33 PM