Flexi 8.6

[mikestickers]

Has anyone figure out how to get around the BS Flexi is pulling? Just yesterday I got the window "no internet connection" I just talked to Sai Flext Corporate and they basically said TO BAD! Up grade! we are not fixing the problem. This is theft, forcing you to buy their more expensive software.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Has anyone figure out how to get around the BS Flexi is pulling? Just yesterday I got the window "no internet connection" I just talked to Sai Flext Corporate and they basically said TO BAD! Up grade! we are not fixing the problem. This is theft, forcing you to buy their more expensive software.

As much as I love legacy software (I'm still running 9x software to this day), I'm probably one of the view that finds this bad, distasteful, but not exactly theft. These products are licensed, no transfer of ownership. And more importantly, they are legacy software, not exactly the most current.

I doubt that there is any legal ability to strip away whatever protections software vendors put in their software.

However, I tend to find a different product more then try to see about getting around their safeguards. Which is what I did when Adobe and even MS went in different directions that I didn't want to support. I found alternatives. Now, with RIPs, may not have much difference between one to to the next when it comes to what is EOL and what they would support and how.

I've got much more expensive software then Flexi that relies on dongles and if you are one generation back, your SOL if anything happens to that dongle or need support in general, period, not much different when a server goes bad. That's been going on for at least 20 yrs that I can remember with one software vendor that they have had this policy. I'm sure for many years, other software vendors have an EOL policy on their products.

Not exactly comforting, but practices like this have been around for years. There is usually an out for the vendors in the EULA (I know some on here have flat out said that they don't read the EULA at all, so not much sympathy there).

 

[skyhigh]

....

 

[AKwrapguy]

Has anyone figure out how to get around the BS Flexi is pulling? Just yesterday I got the window "no internet connection" I just talked to Sai Flext Corporate and they basically said TO BAD! Up grade! we are not fixing the problem. This is theft, forcing you to buy their more expensive software.

Ya that sucks but unfortunately as a company they probably can't devote the resources on increasingly older out of date software. While it might seem trivial, that software is at least 10 years old. I thought that you could get the new Flexi cloud for $50 a month plus no dongle.

 

[x2chris7x]

Yea, same thing is happening here... Looking at our original paper work that states, "Expires: Never."

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Yea, same thing is happening here... Looking at our original paper work that states, "Expires: Never."

Was that directly from Flexi or did you buy from a 3rd party? All software is going to expire unless you plan on either keeping legacy computer boxes around with the old OS that can run that software or you VM said software with that legacy OS.

Otherwise, it's going to go EOL. Just the fact of life in the tech world.

 

[mikestickers]

NO. total Bullshit! here is what they said:


Lawrence,
I’m sorry to tell you that the Softkey Server for your Flexi 8.6 license went down over Labor Day weekend and we have not been able to get it up and running again. In the world of technology everything eventually becomes outdated and obsolete. This is true for hardware, as well as, software. For example, Betamax was replaced by VHS, which was replaced by DVDs, then Blu-Ray, then streaming, etc. PC operating systems have gone from Windows 98, to XP, to 7, Vista, 8, 8.1 and now Windows 10. Along the path of progress, related devices must be updated, upgraded, or discarded. Sign making software is no exception. As the digital infrastructure gets upgraded, support for old software, such as Flexi 10.5 and older just goes away. We do have a few upgrade options for you. I need your user id number (it’s a 5 or 6 digit number) so I can price correctly.

My response to that was: Well Labor day was more than two weeks ago, looks like you server was working just fine yesterday because today I started getting the nasty "NO INTERNET CONNECTION" popup window every 30 sec. They said, well................ It has slowly been working its way to each software ID. It all depends on when each ID number hits the internet again each month.

OH BULLSHIT I said, Flexi check the registration every time its turned on. So that's a load of crap! They are forcing you to buy their more expensive "SUBSCRIPTION" at $50 a month!

 

[WildWestDesigns]

NO. total Bullshit! here is what they said:


Lawrence,
I’m sorry to tell you that the Softkey Server for your Flexi 8.6 license went down over Labor Day weekend and we have not been able to get it up and running again. In the world of technology everything eventually becomes outdated and obsolete. This is true for hardware, as well as, software. For example, Betamax was replaced by VHS, which was replaced by DVDs, then Blu-Ray, then streaming, etc. PC operating systems have gone from Windows 98, to XP, to 7, Vista, 8, 8.1 and now Windows 10. Along the path of progress, related devices must be updated, upgraded, or discarded. Sign making software is no exception. As the digital infrastructure gets upgraded, support for old software, such as Flexi 10.5 and older just goes away. We do have a few upgrade options for you. I need your user id number (it’s a 5 or 6 digit number) so I can price correctly.

Actually, there is some truth to that. While there may have been some holdouts, I think Betamax was still being produced up until 2014-2016, some people still use tape storage for their computers etc, by and large times to do change. Either change with them or they change you.

My response to that was: Well Labor day was more than two weeks ago, looks like you server was working just fine yesterday because today I started getting the nasty "NO INTERNET CONNECTION" popup window every 30 sec. They said, well................ It has slowly been working its way to each software ID. It all depends on when each ID number hits the internet again each month.

Speculation. Unless you know their infra structure, that may or may not be true. I don't know.

OH BULLSHIT I said, Flexi check the registration every time its turned on. So that's a load of crap! They are forcing you to buy their more expensive "SUBSCRIPTION" at $50 a month!

Actually not really. You do have options to go with another vendor. Unless your printer is only supported by so many RIPs (or just Flexi itself). If you don't like a direction that they are going, you have options, unfortunately, I doubt you'll find their EULA as comforting as Flexi's. That's just the way it is here.

As far as expensive, I can pay full price, no upgrading pricing, for 3 licenses of Flexi (when they did the perpetual license, they may be cloud only) and still have change left over from the price of the full version of what I would get (now, I do play the trade in, trade up game for this software, but that's just to illustrate a point). They only support it for the latest generation. No phone support, no email support, no dongle support for x-1 and beyond. That can range from 2 to 5 yrs of support before the next version comes out.


Now, having said that above, don't take that as someone that likes the way things are going. I don't and in fact, have moved from a different workflow, not always easy for everyone, in fact, some may not be able to do it, but that is an option instead of kowtowing to Flexi if you don't like how they are handling things. It has gotten worse over the years as tech has changed and allowed them to exercise more control, but as long as people don't go to different products and vote with their wallet to force change, it is what it is.