Parted Magic - no longer free (as in beer)

[viking777]

If you go to the parted magic download site http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=downloads you will see that the latest version of parted magic is behind a paywall. Not only that, but if you go to the Sourceforge page for parted magic http://sourceforge.net/projects/partedmagic/files/ you will only find older versions.

I found this article about it http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTQzNTI .

I know how much work Patrick Verner puts in to Linux, so I guess $4.99 is not a lot to ask for, but it does come as some surprise (to me at least).

[Bolle1961]

To me it was also a surprise.

$4,99 is not much but what if you want to download a newer version after about 3 months? Do you have to pay again?

[viking777]

but what if you want to download a newer version after about 3 months? Do you have to pay again?

That occurred to me as well, and I don't know the answer, probably you do have to. It would have been a lot better if he had explained what was going on instead of leaving people to guess.

[Dyfi]

Yes you do have to pay. The question has been raised on their forum.

[altair4]

I happen to be married to a living breathing professional software developer and she has one major fault. She insists on being payed to do what she does. She's free to do whatever she chooses of course no mater how much she may be shunned by the Penguinistas but it does enable us to live in untold opulence being able to afford such luxuries as food and a place to live.

As such I have no religious, ethical, or moral objections to pay for a utility that actually works and one that I have depended on and donated to ( apparently not often enough ) for many years.

[viking777]

I don't think anyone is disputing the fact that he deserves to get paid for his superb work, the question I think is - how often? He has already made two releases in August and there is another on the way (see the changelog page), so if he keeps that up are you going to pay for his software 24 times a year? I doubt it, and neither will anyone else (I know you are not obliged to update every time, but most people that use such utilities will want to do so).

There is already a precedent in the mobile phone world where paying once for a utility entitles you to updates pretty well indefinitely, it even entitles you to transfer the utility onto a new device, admittedly mobile apps are a little 'lighter' than Parted Magic but I think he could be a bit more 'generous' than expecting you to pay for every new release (which seems to be the case, although I don't actually know that for sure).

[altair4]

OK, but I think he should charge more then.

I paid $50 for BootIT-NG + ImageForDOS in 2007. I think I paid another $20 upgrade fee when it turned into BootIT-BM and basically combined the two and added more features. Every time there is an update ( and there have been many ) I have to validate my serial number but it's free. Maybe PM should charge more and then offer free upgrades.

Now BootIT is installed on my box and is used - well, every time I boot while PM is used less frequently so maybe an adjustment could be made. Something more than $5 - something less than ???.

[dee.]

You say it's "no longer free (as in beer)", so I presume that implies the source is still available?

[viking777]

You say it's "no longer free (as in beer)", so I presume that implies the source is still available?

It is a good question. The source is available here http://beefdrapes.partedmagic.com/source/ at 1Gb and about 1 hour to download it I can't be bothered to try it out though.

[dee.]

According to the Phoronix article, the source is still available, and anyone is free to download the source for free and compile the software themselves. It's only the pre-built binary you have to pay for.

[AnonKS]

I perfectly understand him charging for it. A lot of people pay more than what he's charging for a cup of coffee. And if it's truly an essential piece of someone's toolbox, then they should gladly pay for it. Not to mention that the source is still available. So it's almost like the paid binary is just the donate version or the lazy man's version.
Me personally, I'm a CS student. My dad and I are working on a piece of proprietary software that his employer is then going to buy from us. Software that I make for normal users, however, is always free and open.

That's just how I decided, when I started learning, that I was going to do it. Businesses can pay for software, that I write, that saves them money or boosts production, or both. Seems fair to me.

Sent from my XT890 using Tapatalk 4

[TomofT.H.U.M.B.]

I don't know how old this version is, but there is one at www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html that doesn't take forever to download. Unfortunately it didn't do what I was trying to do. I got an error when trying to move the 'linuxreader execute icon onto the unetbootin one. But, anyway, the download is there for those it may work for. Just an fyi

[nomko]

I don't know how old this version is, but there is one at http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html

I never trust downloads from such sites. Best is to keep to the original download location.

[Lolo Uila]

I don't know how old this version is, but there is one at http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html

I never trust downloads from such sites. Best is to keep to the original download location.

Majorgeeks is/was an official mirror of Parted Magic (when it was free). That download is legit, but it is an older version (the last truly free version).


As for the current situation, I also strongly object to the paywall being forced on users without any official announcement or explanation.

I also don't like that it is a download paywal, which means we will be forced to pay for every update, even ones that fix bugs and security issues. Patrick is now free to crank out multiple versions a month and we are expected to pay for every update, no matter how small or insignificant? That's not right.

I fully agree that he should get paid for his work, but the way he is going about it is just wrong! I have donated in the past, but this rubs me the wrong way, and I'm probably going to learn to live withoput Parted Magic from now on. I'm sorry he and his wife are unemployed, but he really should have handled this better. A lot of people are upset about this, and upsetting your users is not a good way to get support.

[Tatwi]

Why not just use gparted?

Don't get me wrong, I'm ok with selling software. I just don't understand what THIS issue is about lol...

[MALsPa]

I'm probably going to learn to live withoput Parted Magic from now on

I really like Parted Magic, but I think I'll end up doing the same.

Why not just use gparted?

That's what I was thinking. My main reason for using Parted Magic was to use GParted, anyway, but I think I can just as easily use GParted Live for that. Or really any other distro's live session that comes with GParted.

[fleabus]

I've used/bought copies of quite a few of them over the years. Partition Magic, Acronis, Paragon, Hmm, I think I have every piece of software Terabyte Unlimited ever put out since the Boot-it, Boot-it Lite, Boot-it Direct days... and on to NG and Bare Metal. Parted Magic isn't just GParted, It's one of the most useful complete distros in existence today, anything you need for rescue/repair, clone/image, backup, network, plus all the other tools, too many to list here, even audio playing and cd burning, usb imaging... Hmm. Needs VLC, a couple transcoders, maybe avidemux... Never mind. $4.99 US. My gosh, it's a pack of cigarettes. I could stand to NOT smoke one pack of cigarettes a month... I personally find it uber-useful, and I'll gladly pay the man. I'm lazy and don't want to take the trouble to download and compile the source code.

Kind Regards

-- Dave

[soldier1st]

Why not just use gparted?

Don't get me wrong, I'm ok with selling software. I just don't understand what THIS issue is about lol...

The issue is the way Patrick Verner introduced this paywall. He expected to earn a $1200 a month salary, but he wasn't getting what he wanted. He gave no indication or notice that parted magic was going to be a pay only solution. $4.99 per download is ridiculous. There again, he obviously didn't think this through. Instead of $4.99 per download, it could be say $10.00 for a monthly subscription. It would allow you to download every version during the subscription period. That would make users happy, including me. as it stands i'm not too thrilled to have to pay per download. Considering i need the regular version and the i686(Non PAE) so that would be over $10 each time he releases a new version. That kind of dough i can't spend all at once.

[soldier1st]

Patrick verner should be ashamed of himself. The way he did it is forcing users to either pay pay pay or find another solution. It seems whenever something is good, it turns to garbage. I could see paying a sub fee per month, but not per download.

[soldier1st]

I don't know how old this version is, but there is one at http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html

I never trust downloads from such sites. Best is to keep to the original download location.

Agreed, but at times you can't do that. Best to test said item.