PSA: Unraid might be changing license models

[Skipple]

stolen from this post on /r/selfhosted. sharing to spread awareness. go upvote this original post. 

 

So, it looks like Unraid is switching things up and moving towards an "annual support" model for updates. They just rolled out this new update system, and in their latest blog post, they mentioned:

Quote

This is an entirely new experience from the old updater and was designed to streamline the process, better surface release information, and resolve some common issues.

(https://unraid.net/blog/new-update-os-tool)

Their code tells a different story, though:

if (cee.value) {
  const eee =
      "Your {0} license included one year of free updates at the time of purchase. You are now eligible to extend your license and access the latest OS updates.",
    tee =
      "You are still eligible to access OS updates that were published on or before {1}.";

 

or

text: tee.t("Extend License"),
title: tee.t(
  "Pay your annual fee to continue receiving OS updates."
 ),
}),

 

 

Some translation pieces too:

Starter: "Starter",
Unleashed: "Unleashed",
Lifetime: "Lifetime",
"Pay your annual fee to continue receiving OS updates.":
  "Pay your annual fee to continue receiving OS updates.",
"Your license key's OS update eligibility has expired. Please renew your license key to enable updates released after your expiration date.":
"Get a Lifetime Key": "Get a Lifetime Key",
"Key ineligible for future releases": "Key ineligible for future releases",

 

(Source for all of these: /usr/local/emhttp/plugins/dynamix.my.servers/unraid-components/_nuxt/unraid-components.client-92728868.js)

 

[manikyath]

well.. looks like i now have a reason to procrastinate migrating everything to my unraid server...

 

although, it does look like they have a thing for lifetime licenses in there still - perhaps they're doing a "big cost lifetime license or small cost subscription service" thing.

[Skipple]

7 minutes ago, manikyath said:

well.. looks like i now have a reason to procrastinate migrating everything to my unraid server...

Depending on the direction they go, it may be the time to purchase a licence. I highly doubt they would fuck over existing customers, especially seeing how their entire business is based off of the "buy once, lifetime updates" strategy. I imagine current customers are going to be grandfathered in, else they are going to have a fairly large lawsuit on their hands. 

[manikyath]

16 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Depending on the direction they go, it may be the time to purchase a licence. I highly doubt they would fuck over existing customers, especially seeing how their entire business is based off of the "buy once, lifetime updates" strategy. I imagine current customers are going to be grandfathered in, else they are going to have a fairly large lawsuit on their hands. 

i dont think lawsuit, but a large part of their appeal relies on community projects, the majority of which i dont see staying around if they get f*cked over on their license cost...

[Jarsky]

They will only be able to apply this to new licenses surely. As existing licences were sold in that it was a one off charge and new releases would be available at no additional cost. It's still in the terms today for buying a license. 

 

https://unraid.net/pricing

Do I have to pay for new releases of Unraid?
No! All license tiers are eligible to run new releases of Unraid OS at no additional cost.

 

[battle.flyboy]

They have spoken:
https://forums.unraid.net/topic/154463-announcing-new-unraid-os-license-keys/

I have been running an ubuntu server without any backup or RAID (any protection really) for a few months now. I was planning to setup RAID by end of this year. Now I am wondering, best to buy the lifetime license when available?

[manikyath]

7 minutes ago, battle.flyboy said:

Now I am wondering, best to buy the lifetime license when available?

the top tier lifetime license appears to remain unchanged as far as i can make out.

 

in short, they will soon™ stop selling basic and plus keys, but otherwise have no plans to change the usability of keys sold before the date ths goes into effect.

 

the old model is(was) this:

- basic: $59 for up to 6 attached drives, lifetime updates/upgrades.

- plus: $89 for up to 12 attached drives, lifetime updates/upgrades.

- pro: $129 for unlimited attached drives, lifetime updates/upgrades.

 

the new model will be this:

- starter: less than $59, up to 4 attached drives, one year of updates/upgrades.

- unleashed: $89, unlimited drives, one year of updates/upgrades.

- pro: $129 for unlimited attached drives, lifetime updates/upgrades.

 

IMO they would have to decrease price of starter/unleashed to make it appealing, but i dont mind the change.

 

ps, i'm a plus license owner, and i still call myself an idiot regularly for not just going for pro...

[Skipple]

16 minutes ago, manikyath said:

ps, i'm a plus license owner, and i still call myself an idiot regularly for not just going for pro...

Isn't there an upgrade path? 

[battle.flyboy]

18 minutes ago, manikyath said:

the new model will be this:

- starter: less than $59, up to 4 attached drives, one year of updates/upgrades.

- unleashed: $89, unlimited drives, one year of updates/upgrades.

- pro: $129 for unlimited attached drives, lifetime updates/upgrades.

I can see them increasing the price on pro/lifetime license. They conveniently left pricing out of the discussion for pro tier.

Which is why I am thinking I should bite while I can.

[manikyath]

6 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Isn't there an upgrade path? 

i could upgrade to pro, but it's a bunch of hassle i kind of dont want to deal with. as it turns out unraid isnt quite set up to deal with payments from the EU, and i'm rather adverse to jumping trough hoops for this.

[FlyingPotato_is_taken]

I don't like their response:

First of  all this is just reacting and not leading the discussion. Reading on reddit that they switch to a subscription without any official word placed unraid in the defence/damage control. 

Them being very light on details let me believe it's ugly news and they know it won't be received well (If you have nothing to hide there is no reason to not communicate the upcoming price structure). The only pricing we know is $90/year instead of $130 perpetual licence.  No word on what the extension fee will be: Could be $10 but might as well be $90.

 

 

Quote

A small point: it's not a subscription fee in this sense

A shit. Here we go again. 

Ubisoft tried to tell people that Trackmania isn't a subscription. It's a time limited access.

Spoiler

A network connected device without updates is worthless. There is no just use it without updates situation.

 

[Skipple]

57 minutes ago, FlyingPotato_is_taken said:

A shit. Here we go again. 

Ubisoft tried to tell people that Trackmania isn't a subscription. It's a time limited access.

A network connected device without updates is worthless. There is no just use it without updates situation.

Eh, that's not exactly the same. It's reasonable to assume that users can utilize unRAID without exposing the box to the internet. It is, afterall, a NAS solution first and foremost. 

[BoomerDutch]

Ugh another company into drain

Oh well i haven't been using unraid anyway.

 

Plenty other software in the sea anyways.

 

[m9x3mos]

1 hour ago, BoomerDutch said:

Ugh another company into drain

Oh well i haven't been using unraid anyway.

 

Plenty other software in the sea anyways.

 

It has its uses where something like truenas wouldn't work. 

It is shame but I don't think they have a business line to support the operation like others do. 

That is the only reason that truenas has a free option available given the size of its operations. 

[Kilrah]

9 hours ago, FlyingPotato_is_taken said:

A network connected device without updates is worthless. There is no just use it without updates situation.

If you use it strictly as a local NAS with no outside-facing services it's fine.

[FlyingPotato_is_taken]

Yes and no.

Not ideal but probably fine in a home setup. SME and this argument goes out the window.

 

How many unraid installs are strictly just NAS without any other service on them or VPN into the network?

[Kilrah]

31 minutes ago, FlyingPotato_is_taken said:

Not ideal but probably fine in a home setup. SME and this argument goes out the window.

Unraid's only been a home thing, very much not designed for business use even though some people do use it there...

 

32 minutes ago, FlyingPotato_is_taken said:

How many unraid installs are strictly just NAS without any other service on them or VPN into the network?

Probably not many for the new users this will affect, but there are regularly people coming with "i've set up this thing 8 years ago just for serving files and never touched it again"...