[Leica] Capture One "perpetual license" changes

[boulanger.croissant at gmail.com (Peter Klein)]

I have been using Capture One for years. One of the reasons I've used it 
is that Adobe's licensing scheme is basically software rental.? I am 
opposed on principle to software rental schemes. The idea that a 
customer should have to pay for the rest of their life or lose the 
ability to edit, print, or even view their work seems wrong to me.? 
Capture One seems to have taken the first step towards that model.

Capture One's license was perpetual as long as I've been using it, since 
the Leica M8 days). They added a subscription option in recent years. 
Well, going forward, Capture One's perpetual license may not be so 
perpetual. Today I received an email from Capture One, which is linked 
below. The phrase "new customer loyalty scheme" seems to foreshadow some 
more Adobe-like behavior. So far they are not talking about ceasing 
access to the version we bought in supposed perpetuity, but who knows 
whether we are being prepared for something like that in future? I feel 
a chill wind blowing from Denmark.

Last time I looked, several years ago, most open-source and freeware Raw 
editing programs were way behind Lightroom and Capture One. Are there 
any that have become more "ready for prime time?" I want to have a Plan 
B in case the need arises. Layers are a must.

Here's the Capture One message on their Web site. It's is essentially 
the same as the email. Note the user comments below the article.
<https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/7998068628637>