Sublime Forum

License Pricing

#1

Hi,

   I'm new to Sublime Test and not trying to be overly critical. I'm very interested in the project as it's beginning to look really nice. Really the only criticism I have is that the license price seems a bit steep for something that still seems to be in the development stage. There are still many features it seems to lack like auto-closing tags when using code completion and code folding. I know that the latest dev builds have code folding implemented but not really very well. If the folding worked based on tags it would be more appealing to me. Also I don't see a way to add my own external tools to the editor which is a function most text editors seem to have. I would also like to be able to make a new file from a template.I see there is a way to add new plugins and snippets which is nice. But looks like I have to code them myself and I haven't really seen many plugins made or a place to download them. Are they coded in python? Another thing I would like to see is a tag tree or outline in the sidebar and a file explorer in the sidebar. 

   Once there are more features like these as well as a way to customize the menu's and have a tool bar I think I would be more inclined to spend $59 on a license. Until then I will be keeping my eye on this project and look forward to the day the program seems more complete. I'm glad there is such active development here.

   One last thing, Currently I use the programmers notepad on windows and geany on linux for all my editing needs. They are simple and very easy to customize. Again I'm not trying to be too critical and definitely not bashing the software. It does look promising. It just seems like an early immature version of a text editor that has a lot of potential but not something I would be willing to pay for at its current stage. I welcome feedback on this post and if there is anything I could do to help the project out like testing new features and such please let me know, I would be happy to contribute.
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#2

Technically speaking, you can modify just about everything in the program, and relatively easily at that. For example, to modify the main dropdown menu, go into Packages/Default/Main.sublime-menu and you’ll find a JSON file that is human editable containing the entire menu structure.

In fact it’s hard to find anything in Sublime that isn’t configurable, and usually (relatively) easy to configure. “Easy” being a relative term, as thus far this is very much targeted as a developer-configurable program. When I say easy I mean the configuration is in plain text editable formats like JSON and XML and not in something compiled or encoded requiring reverse engineering.

It’s better to view Sublime (as it is so far) more as either a developer targeted environment or as an amazing platform to build another editor on top of, where you might build out more GUI components to change settings so it’s targeted at less savvy people or people with less time to spend programming their programming environment, and then ship that as “MyFancyEditor powered by Sublime” kind of like how Eclipse is the foundation for a lot of things built on top of it.

I’ll say from the perspective of having pored over the source code from top to bottom, and working on tightly integrated components, Sublime is an amazing platform at core and has a tremendous future ahead of it. But it absolutely is very much the internal skeleton that doesn’t have flesh yet. But keep in mind that you’re not required to purchase a license as of current. I would say that it is close enough to being a base level of “complete” that I agree with the decision to start prodding people to get a license, but the time hasn’t come where you absolutely have to.

I will also say that the $60 is worth it in my experience based on what I’ve seen in other editors. While it may not be quite visible in using the program from a user’s perspective, at a platform/API/meta-framework level Sublime is starting to provide something well beyond the other options that are there. It’s extremely powerful while also being way more accessible (at the core level).

I would say that the time isn’t quite right to be using Sublime unless you’re both capable of programming it and then willing to put in to make it do whatever extra things you want it to. It’s getting there, but it’s not quite there.

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#3

Thanks for replying. It was very insightful. I’ll look under the hood a little more and see if I can’t configure it more to my liking. Over all the editor is beautiful. I like the minimalist view as it lets me get to coding and not looking at a lot of clutter while doing so. Can’t wait to see what becomes of it. I’m very hopeful and will be glad to purchase a license as soon as it is more fleshed out. A quick question about the license though. It may have been answered on the site but if I purchase a license will it include upgrades or will there be a new license needed for each major update/versioning?

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#4
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#5

I find $60 to be VERY reasonable. I’ve used EVERYTHING in the past 10 years. My favorite was Textmate as most of my development was becoming Javascript/PHP/HTML/CSS/Ruby on Rails/Python Django. When I was forced to use Windows at work, I began the search for something comparable. I went through all the IDEs (Eclipse, Netbeans, Aptana, IntelliJ) and tried the text editors, GVim, Notepad++, Emacs, but nothing really fit me.

I switched to a Linux desktop about 6 months ago and thought, I’ll just use Vim. Then I found Sublime and it just keeps getting better and better! Sure there are plenty of free editors out there, and if you’re into those, use those. I gladly paid $60 for Textmate back in the day. I gladly got our work to purchase 4 licenses of this.

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#6

When I asked if the license was valid for major updates/versions I meant future updates. I’ll assume based on your response though that would be a “yes”.

Also I have been playing around with the editor a lot today and believe it may very well be worth the license price. It just looks like it takes some time getting used to. I also browsed the web and found some posts about customizing by adding packages and using package control and found a few things I like there as well. For now I still need to use an editor I’m familiar with when working until I learn more about the different features and commands of the editor but I think from what I’m seeing that I will be using this more and more for my own projects to learn it better.

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#7

I’ve never looked back since purchasing Sublime. It’s the first and only editor I’ve paid for, every other time using free alternatives, but nothing has captivated me as much as Sublime.

I’ll stand by the price tag at any opportunity. It’s totally worth it.

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#8

Major upgrades are, as a general rule, not free. Just to be clear though, 2.0 will be a free upgrade for all users, even those who purchased before Sublime Text X was announced a year ago.

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#9

That is very generous of you. I would pay for another license in a heartbeat. Totally worth the money. Just like jbrooksuk, this is the first editor that I have ever paid for, previously using open source editors instead.

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#10

+1
The difference is the second editor i paid for. Worth every single penny!

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