I like this solution.. and Java
I like this solution.
It solves worries over the developer going out of business or something, and being stuck with a product that'll expire with no recourse. It also avoids the potential problem (from a customer's standpoint) of having software that isn't updated but you have to keep paying subscription to use it.
More importantly, it solves one anxiety over subscription software pretty easily. So, you buy version 6 of some software, and you try version 7 and don't care for some change, or there's a compatibility problem, or there's some GUI changes (and you want to get something done, not learn the new GUI), whatever. With some subscription software where it just continually autoupdates, you're boned, you can't run some particular version of the software. With this, you get a fixed version a year you can run if you want.
Re: Java. Sorry, Java fans, but Java's pretty bloated. (As is .NET) That said I do like these style of languages anyway, as well as Python.