Relevant bits from the article:
Broadcom has blinked, and made a couple of changes to support VMware customers who don’t want to move to its new software bundle subscriptions.
Customers also told Tan that “fast-moving change may require more time, so we have given support extensions to many customers who came up for renewal while these changes were rolling out.”
The other change is providing some ongoing security patches for VMware customers who persist with their perpetual licenses instead of shifting to Broadcom’s subs.
“We are announcing free access to zero-day security patches for supported versions of vSphere, and we’ll add other VMware products over time,” Tan wrote, describing the measure as aimed at ensuring that customers “whose maintenance and support contracts have expired and choose to not continue on one of our subscription offerings.” The change means such customers “are able to use perpetual licenses in a safe and secure fashion.”
So, tiny win if you’re already on a perpetual license though I don’t think the subscription enshittification train has reversed course.
So it was a scam from the start?
I don’t see how that would be a scam. They sold you a license, that gives you an entitlement to use the software, not the service for someone to help you use it, or future versions.
Correct. Most corporate software I deal with separates the two. They may throw a free year in of premium support or something in on initial purchase, but making them separate allows them to offer varying levels for customers to choose from. I.e. no support, email only, 48hr SLA, 12hr SLA and 1hr SLA. As different tiers and prices on yearly contracts or even per instance in some cases.