We know the goal is not to cause any trouble, the goal is to hold Xojo Inc. accountable to it’s customers and fix the product and it’s chronic and systemic deficiencies.
If Geoff committed to (and delivered) a few Bug only releases and overhauled the system so that it did not continue to decay, I would not only take a Pro Plus license right away, but I would also tell everybody who would listen that they made good.
There have been many examples of companies producing shit tier products being called out, listening to their customers, fixing long standing deficiencies and regaining, and sometimes exceeding their wildest expectations.
Apple Computer Inc. 90 Days from bankruptcy, fragmented and nonsensical product lines, outrageous prices plummeting customer sentiment, gigantic competitors, blunder after blunder while abandoning what made them great. Turned around, now household name, 12 largest worldwide by revenue. One man doing what was needed and right.
Jack In The Box Inc. In the 1980s-90s (jack was the meal of last resort) Declining sales, near insolvency due to stagnating menu offerings, horse-meat and e-coli drove the company to the bottom of the food chain. They opened a test kitchen, hired some better experts, revamped all the menu with high quality items, better portions and revamped all locations to represent the major overhaul. Jack in the box recovered and is thriving by focusing on delivering a better product rather then being among the lowest common denominator. 2.25 Billion in revenue, and tasty food I might add.
Others:
Point being, it is possible to pull this out of the fire, the effort and customer pressure must be targeted in that direction and in support of that objective. We all want Xojo to thrive. With enough of the right pressure, the wall will eventually crack and some healthy changes can take place. Right now, there is no incentive for leadership to consider it, no consequences for their behavior and the status quo has always been available once the mob goes back to sleep. (This is what is happening right now, in a few weeks this will blow over and they can go right back to ripping people off)
Action must be precisely targeted at an exact outcome, it must not be out of the correct bounds of intensity (weak or strong) to miss the mark on getting change to occur. It must be constant, responsive, gradual and escalating as needed based upon reaction. It will eventually work, if done correctly.
