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Broken Link Checker : another good plugin that goes wasted with unnecessary update. The plugin owners are trying to push for an online service they are hosting instead of the good ol’ one site plugin. Instead of launching another product they are using the users already using the plugin to push a “2.0” update that changes completely the plugin.
That’s a real phenomenon happening for a lot of plugin. That’s just a waste of time and energy because you then have to find another plugin doing a similar job etc… stop wasting our time!!!
I miss the days when plugins were surely a bit less practical, less intuitive but they DID THEIR JOB and did not change completely just because some random company bought them.
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It’s frustrating, there’s no denying that.
At the same time, people put real time and knowledge into these plugins, the same time and knowledge I’d be capable of if I applied myself to learning and building – but I haven’t and so I’m not really at liberty to complain about how other people choose to use their efforts.
I suppose, if I had designed and built something, had to put food on the table, was ambitious about monetizing my creation, and was looking for an out, selling would seem lucrative, too.
It’s a tough one, because so much of what is provided is given for free in the WordPress space that the commercial aspect of it, where developers try to actually be rewarded for their efforts, is a tough balance.
There’s probably better ways for them to do it, and again, I don’t deny the frustration, but I overlook a lot of the annoyances and can generally find an alternative.
I understand your frustration. But at the same time, code can be forked.
If a plugin is popular enough to have a wide variety of people using it, and this sort of thing happens… The old code doesn’t go away. Somebody else could start a new plugin with that old code, for free, and there you go.
There is a reason we have the licensing requirement on wordpress.org. All the code there is free, and anybody can use it for whatever they want. Code is in a repository for a reason, and that is so it’s always there. The repository history never disappears.