Announcement

[snapup]

I will be sad if this programme dies, but grateful at the same time. I registered for this site solely to say thank you and encourage you to follow your heart to something else you can invest your free time in with joy. THANKS FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE.

[Nanno]

Make it a commercial software, rather than freeware.
You may have a free version also, with less functionalities, but will be the commercial version that will make the project sustainable and more interesting for yourself.

[Phio79]

Hello Luis,

I registered on the forum just to testify like many other people that I have been using your software for many years and that it meets 99.99% of my expectations.

I have no advice to give you concerning the follow-up to be given to this project which has occupied you for years, but I will be sad if it were to disappear, and also in difficulty in finding a replacement for it, knowing that I remember looking for a software that suited me for a long time before finding this one

Like many, I hope that it will continue by one means or another, without me being able to help you.
Whatever your decision, I understand it and hope you flourish in your future projects.

Friendly regards,
Philippe

[UncleDan]

I have been a long-time user of “Cobian” and have always found it to be a fantastic program, both first in the Cobian Backup declination and now in the “new” Cobian Reflector. When Cobian 8 was made open source I was very impressed, negatively, that there were so few contributions, but I guess that's normal because people prefer ready-made things, especially if they are done so well!
Unfortunately, I am not a programmer and could not contribute.
That said: I know that making the code open-source might mean (again) abandoning it as has happened in the past, but ultimately this is great work that would go to waste, plus it would be a TESTIMONY of your great work. So, if you can't sell it (and here I would understand the choice), why not just let it go...
In any case, THANK YOU LUIS for your work and your beautiful programs.

[betofia]

I think the project is so good that it should be profitable. If you want an investment partner to work on it together, I would be delighted.

I agree that it is difficult for a project to survive by releasing the code. Technology advances so fast that it requires constant updating, and time has become very valuable.

I wanted to contact you privately, but I have not been able to because even though I have used your software for years, and I always recommend it to my clients, I have just registered.

Hugs and Success.

Alberto Fia
CBL Data Recovery in Spanish
@albertofia

[tychee]

I love the program and was about to start donating/supporting it. Unfortunately I found Cobian very shortly before you made the announcement in July '24 so I hesitated. Probably like many, I continue to hesitate because I've been patiently waiting 4 months now to see any kind of a decision.

Not as old as some but I bought my first personal computer in 1986 and I've done what I can to support many freeware projects over the years. Happy to do what I'm personally able to do, as I'm sure several/many of us would, and do, but, ultimately it is up to you.

On the "What's New" page:
"Some of these features would take years to implement by myself, but there are some commercial libraries on the market that could be purchased to be used with the program. There are other expenses like the program's certificate that must be renewed, the web hosting, etc that are recurrent."

Suggestion: Create a 'Patreon' and/or 'GoFundMe' page to raise funds for the project.

However, it doesn't matter if the all your out-of-pocket costs are met by donors/supporters if your heart isn't in the project. And that's really what we're waiting to hear. Do you want to continue the project; Yes or No? If you decide to not continue the project then I truly hope you submit the code to Open Source because I'll be jumping on GitHub to see what I can do.

Now to be brutal... A major issue for many of us is OAuth. As best I can tell, it was first brought up Nov 01, 2021 and it still isn't implemented. Given that, I kind of think you checked out from this project long ago.

[Jamesiv1]

Hi Luis,

I got a job in Tech Support in 1998 and seems I found Cobian Backup soon after but I guess it was 2005... So I think I've been with you from 1st release. I was on Windows 98 so it must have been Luz de Luna, but I definitely remember when the logo changed to the mushroom LOL

I have donated a few times, but wish I had donated more. If you give me your bank account number, drivers license number and social security card I will donate one million US dollars. I am an attaché for an African prince in Uganda and he urgently needs to hide his money from the government.



I am not a programmer but I hope Cobian Backup lives on. I have loved using it and like others, it has saved by butt more than once.

If it dies, I hope it is a sweet and painless death, because it has been a good and faithful servant.

Thanks and best regards,

James

[dncarac]

I'm sorry to see you go. I found CB quite a while ago while searching for a backup program. CB fit me perfectly. Reflector continued on. I'm thankful for your work. I hope the program goes on with someone as responsible as you. If not, however, I'll just keep using Reflector until the world changes enough that I can't.

Again, thank you,

Den

[Vivido]

Hi Luis,

I have been using your backup software for many years. It has been perfect for my needs, so thank you for all your hard work.

I'll support you in whatever decision you wish to make, but I want you to know that I would happily pay you an annual licence fee for Cobian Reflector if it were maintained under your vision. I'm tight-fisted and can't afford to splash out often but this is great software which makes my life easier. We've been very lucky. Thank you.

[mindworker]

Dear Luis,
I'm a Cobian Backup/Reflector user since version 2 and I'm greatful for your work and your passion. I would love to see you continuing the software in one way or the other. Also I could imagine, that switching to a commercial version might push your motivation as you have some finacial profit of this.
Hope the project would not just fade away. Thank you very much for this fine art of software.