Well, the “forever” part was tricky because it might break due to OS upgrades or computer architecture/chip changes.

But making a one-time purchase and using software 5 or 10 years was not unheard of.

I think I paid $500 for Photoshop and it came out to under $9 per month if I do the math right… that’s for 10 years of use.

If it’s still $20 per month for a subscription and you do 10 years that’s $2,400.

@rasterweb The disaster is one can be locked out of software you paid for if the internet is down or vendor's servers are down because you cannot authenticate that you have paid for the software. They do not even provide alternative authentication like a key. The software keeps needing re-authentication and it is not a one-off. It is like renting a house and not being able to open the door unless the telephone line is working and the landlord's answering machine is not full.

A total disaster.