No more .NET Reflector for free
RedGate just announced that .NET reflector will no longer be a free tool. Appearantly it's no longer possible to properly maintain the product without revenue coming in.
I don't think this is a bad move. Everybody likes free software, but nothing is truly free. There's not a lot of room to complain (hey it's free), and improvements and fixes may not come as fast as you would like.
Knowing there's a team behind Reflector actively improving the product is worth a lot to me.If I had to choose between spending $35 on a product that is properly maintained and a free tool that just sits there, I gladly spend 35 bucks. On top of that $35 is a bargain given the amount of time the tool has saved me in the past.
Go Reflector!
Published: February 2, 2011
If you can decide what to buy and what not, it's easy. But many of developers need to go to their management for a decision and prove they can earn back the 35 dollar. Lots of trouble.
I'd rather see a free "lite" version with an upgrade option, if it's money they want. The model they chose will only make reflector slowly disappear and be replaced by new free tools.
@rick: proving Reflector is worth $35 is easy. I don't think that sub-optimal purchase approval processes has anything to do with the discussion on whether software should be free are not.
@morten: that's what they had, a lite version for free but appearantly that didn't work out. Not convinced Reflector will slowly disappear. New free tools are always welcome though.
I know I am cheap. I think $35 is high. I use Reflector whenever I really need to dig into some specific details. I pay for tools that I use regularly such as Visual Studio, Resharper, and others. I use a bunch of free tools for non-regular needs. Reflector is a good application and sometimes a savor, but it is still a 'use it when you need it' tool. I cannot see myself paying more than $20 for it.
If maintaining it is really a problem, can we just free source it? I don't buy the argument of 'we try to make it free but the cost of maintenance is too high'. If you really want people to have access to it, let others maintain it instead of trying to profit from it. Just my opinion.
If they think they will make money on it, great!
However, I don't think many devs will buy it. I know I won't. And I'm gonna be *pissed off* come the end of May when they cut my free version off.
The problem is this: the free version does everything that we need. The "pro" version is just a bunch of wow-look-at-my-skills features that some people my dig, but no one needs.
Honestly, I'm puzzled why RedGate needs a team around Reflector at all. The tool is perfect as-is. Let it be. And let it be free. It will only help your reputation in the community as a dedicated vendor. Now I'm no RedGate customer (I don't need my hand held that much), but IMO, this move is seriously hurting that rep.
Goodbye RedGate. The community that you're turning on will take over from here. ;)
What happened to Lutz Roeder's "Reflector will remain free forever" ?
Give them a break $35 dollars is cheap for a great piece of software.
"The tool is perfect as-is. Let it be." - did you not notice how many updates are pushed out to reflector? It takes a lot of effort and man hours to maintain such applications.
I for one will be purchasing this useful utility.
Guys, it's not the $35 that's the problem. If they are updating it new features and whatnot then that's great, they should get paid somewhat for that work.
But the versions that have been released for free all these years, why not just remove the timebomb and let people continue to use it as it is.
I would even happily go back and take Reflector v4 if it meant it was free.
What I think happened is Redgate went and added a bunch of bells and whistles to Reflector pro and hardly anyone bought it so they didn't get their expected ROI. Now they are charging all the people who have used the free version for all these years to recoup their losses.
However I think this will have done them more harm than good. Redgate's name leaves a bitter taste in some peoples mouths now, including mine.
In my opinion, in the wake of this announcement, SL Spy 4 now seems "expensive".
I'll end up buying (expensing) both I guess, but I think Red Gate really has set the bar in pricing.
I would pay $35 to Lutz but I don't expect a kid on his first hello world to.
So I'm putting out GrayWolf at www.DigitalbodyGuard.com
GrayWolf will do most of the basic stuff Reflector did, and some beta code editing.
I will make it OpenSource at some point, I hope to add more of my other tools to it. It could be so much more.