WAPT model change notice

[erickeke]

Hello,

I wanted to respond to your announcement of a model change.

I simply find it unfortunate.

I think your problem lies more with the pricing.

In my opinion, your prices are simply too high or too low.

Your paid version is too expensive, the features offered aren't essential for everyone, and some are missing for a product at that price.

On the other hand, there's the free version, which is sufficient for 99% of uses and, in fact, isn't expensive enough: your prices are so high that most people who would have spent a few euros on the software use the free version instead.

The paid version should cost less than €2 per user per year, and there shouldn't be a free version, or at least only a limited version for fewer than 10 users to try the product.

I don't really understand the point of removing the open-source version, but I don't really care, except perhaps to nitpick and report bugs, and you'll have plenty (given all the ones encountered in two years of use).

Personally, I've always felt uneasy using all your work for free, but there's no way I'm paying that much.

I think you'd have many more clients with affordable rates.

Sincerely

[Valentin Ficis]

Hello,

Personally, I also regret this change in business strategy (especially at the dawn of a certain maturity for the software), but for different reasons.

I discovered WAPT not long ago (August 2020, I believe), while looking for an open-source not tied to a security software suite, one that would allow people less comfortable with computers to perform updates independently. WAPT met many of my selection criteria, but it's the open-source of the Community version that I find essential.

The server component interested me for GULLs, and I was planning to learn about packaging… So thank you for taking the time to announce your choice before I invested time in a project that is losing its coherence.

I also find the lack of external contributions regrettable (if we disregard scripts, monitoring, and suggestions offered by the forum), but I wonder if everything possible has been done to encourage them.

Currently, I'm left with a rather bitter taste, a feeling of having been somewhat misled regarding the communication about your organization's commitment to open-source licenses. But finding the right business model for developing open-source software isn't easy for everyone.

Finally, the support provided by the community for the takeover is appreciated and gives me a glimmer of hope…

Best of luck, despite everything!

[erenodau]

Hello erickeke,

We understand your dissatisfaction and we are sorry.

The same goes for the bugs you may have encountered while using WAPT. We are doing our best to avoid or correct them. We aim to improve with each version.

I can assure you, however, that our entire team is involved in the development of Tranquil IT. We have always been committed to providing solutions that meet the needs of as many people as possible, including our pricing.

Obviously, it saddens us to see that our prices are considered too high by some organizations. However, I would like to point out that many other organizations think the opposite or believe that our prices are entirely justified.

Nevertheless, we will certainly take your comments into account in our future planning. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this matter.

Regarding the free version, there's absolutely no need to feel embarrassed; we have always offered it willingly!
We remain available to continue this discussion.

Have a good day!

Sincerely,

Emmanuel

[erenodau]

Hello Valentin Ficis,

Once again, we can only express our empathy for what you are feeling. We also thank you for this feedback.

We always find value in the philosophy of free and open-source software. However, we will strive to be clearer on this subject in the future to avoid this kind of confusion.

We remain available to continue the discussion.

Have a good day!

Sincerely,

Emmanuel

[Valentin Ficis]

Hello,
thank you for your reply.

[nliaudat]

Hello,

First of all, thank you for your contribution to open source.

I believe the timing of this decision can only lead to the demise of the community version.
Indeed, migrating to Python 3.7 is such a challenge that no one will want to take it on.

In my humble opinion, you're missing a flat-rate licensing model that could migrate users from the community version to a paid model.
I find nothing less flexible than a per-user cost system.
With a moderately priced subscription that provides the same features as the community version, I'm convinced you would achieve your financial goals while maintaining an attractive user community for your investors.

A cloud version would also be a good way to migrate your users to a paid model, possibly with local repositories (Docker or VM).

Regarding the lack of external contributors, this is due to your business model, which doesn't really allow other companies to interact as local partners or integrators. Furthermore, Wapt's target audience is network administrators, who may not necessarily have the necessary development skills.

Thank you for all your hard work, and I wish you all the best for the future.
Sincerely

[erenodau]

Hello nliaudat,

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. We will certainly consider them for future developments!

We remain available to continue this discussion.

Have a good day!

Best regards,

Emmanuel

[markham]

Hello,
how does the migration of WAPT packages designed in Python 2 to 3 work?
How does the migration from Discovery to Enterprise work? Are they really different versions?

Thank you.

[vcardon]

All the cryptography in WAPT is migrating from Python 2 to Python 3, so at a minimum, you'll need to re-sign all the packages in your repository. Furthermore, if you've used methods compatible only with Python 2 in your custom packages, you'll need to correct them before re-signing.

Switching from Discovery to Enterprise will be straightforward.

[nliaudat]

Good morning,

WAPT Discovery will not support Windows XP and macOS.
WAPT Discovery will be a proprietary version.
This version will also be limited to 300 workstations.

Will there be additional restrictions for Wapt Discovery compared to Community?
Sincerely