Alas, I'm feeling movable. I like movable type, mostly. I've been considering moving to WordPress for a while, but have blamed a lack of Tuits. Well, joy unbounded, MT has released a new version, along with a new pricing plan.
I am very much in favor of capitalism, so don't think that this reaction is a feeling that they have "sold out" or "betrayed" me. I just can't spend $$$ for something that I can get for free - particularly when it's something that I can happily live without.
I've always been somewhat puzzled by their licensing. I like free software licenses to be free - in that I can freely modify the code and distribute modified versions of it. Semi-free licenses confuse me. But, the software worked, and that was sufficient. These days I'm much more interested in stuff that Just Works than I am in philosophy.
So, while I can't work up the energy to feel outraged or offended or betrayed, I will be moving to WordPress as soon as I can find the time to do so, so that I won't be in violation of MT's new licensing, or even in violation of the spirit of the new licensing. I wish them luck and financial success, but suspect that they have just killed the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs. I really do feel sorry for them, having taken one of my free products commercial at one point, thus losing all of my loyal users, development momentum, and name recognition. I hope that they have the good sense to back down enough to retain an income flow. I don't wish poverty on anyone -- it's no fun.
Five minutes is what it takes to install wordpress, and 10 to import all your MT entries. Come on over :)
WP Support er
For what it's worth, DrB, I've been investigating WordPress, and my current feeling is: replicate Gamegrene.com using Drupal, and DNN using WP. So, +1 on a move to WP for me.
Posted by: Morbus Iff on May 13, 2004 04:36 PMOkay this is getting wierd, the different areas of my life are running together.
Both of these commenters hang out with me on the #wordpress, and now they are commenting on a good friends blog.
Freaky.
But I agree with both of them Rich, very easy and worth doing.
Posted by: Chris J. Davis on May 13, 2004 08:02 PMYou know Morbus? Yes, that is, indeed, truly weird.
Posted by: DrBacchus on May 13, 2004 08:15 PMWhat's weirder is that I know Morbus, too, *and* found this through Mena's blog.
One thing I saw mentioned out there is that this newly restrictive licensing and so on doesn't necessarily apply to any new products they release under the MT name -- perhaps they're planning to charge a lot more for the developer release than the final release.
The most common pricepoint seems to be between $70 and $200, but there's also evidence that a majority of the users still fit just fine in the free section. Something worth noting is that I've only seen complaints from users who exceed the 1/3 boundary -- I haven't seen (to memory, at least) a single complaint from a user who fits within that usage pattern.
Beware of self-assembling echo chambers.
Posted by: Richard Soderberg on May 14, 2004 10:18 PM