RedGate, the company behind the previously-popular Reflector software, have admitted that they were “wrong” when they assumed that users who took up Reflector’s free offering were more likely to jump on board with other RedGate software.
developerFusion has covered the original RedGate announcement, some competitors taking advantage, and the official release of Reflector 7 in the past.
In a blog post on the Reflector site, RedGate’s co-CEO Neil Davidson admitted that their primary reason behind purchasing Reflector from its original developer was because they “believed we could take it in a direction that worked both for Reflector users and for us”.
“We thought that our other products would bask in Reflector’s glow, and that we could release a paid-for, professional version that people could upgrade to. We were wrong.”
To that end, the company has announced that anyone who had a license for Reflector 6 will get a perpetual, free license for Reflector 6.8. This software had previously expired under RedGate’s policy of forcing upgrades to the next version by deactivating old versions after a certain date.
This seems to be a major attempt by RedGate management to claw back some community respect following the “emotional” outbursts on the RedGate forums in particular when the original announcement was made. “Some commentators have painted our behaviour as the reckless actions of an evil company. I hope I’ve demonstrated that the truth is more nuanced than that,” continues Davidson. “We’re doing our best to grapple with a genuinely difficult situation and come up with a solution that works for Reflector users and for RedGate.”
Comments