Why is Steinberg working so hard to kill off VST2 when it works so well?

[Vertion]

Enough quibbling.

I say we just ignore Steinberg and continue to release VST2 plugins. Call Steinberg's bluff.

If they take further action and continue to threat and take aggressive legal action, they will only further alienate themselves from supporting plugin hosts and makers and collapse their own market. Implosion.

It will require courage on our part, but they will destroy their own reputation in this market, permanently.

[Deep Purple]

Enough quibbling.

I say we just ignore Steinberg and continue to release VST2 plugins. Call Steinberg's bluff.

If they take further action and continue to threat and take aggressive legal action, they will only further alienate themselves from supporting plugin hosts and makers and collapse their own market. Implosion.

It will require courage on our part, but they will destroy their own reputation in this market, permanently.

You do know that it's not illegal to continue to release VST2 plugins, right...?

[Vertion]

So you saying that whole business about signing before Oct 2018 was just symbolic? Those that did not sign their special time-limited permission document in time can continue to develop, market, and sell VST2 plugins, and hosts, without any harassment from Steinberg? If so, that is great news!

Either way, ignoring Steinberg is the best policy going forwards.

[Vokbuz]

So you saying that whole business about signing before Oct 2018 was just symbolic? Those that did not sign their special time-limited permission document in time can continue to develop, market, and sell VST2 plugins, and hosts, without any harassment from Steinberg? If so, that is great news!

Either way, ignoring Steinberg is the best policy going forwards.

Actually, those who didn't sign the agreement were already releasing their plugins illegally. Steinberg could take actions against them at anytime. That didn't stop them then, what should stop them now? Legally nothing changed for those developers.

[Fender19]

Let me ask a different question - are there any hosts out there that support VST3 but not VST2? Seems VST3 is the "odd ball".

I have a signed agreement with Steinberg that I submitted back around 2004 or so (would have to dig it up from the archives). Maybe I should just forget about VST3 and make only VST2 - as long as it meets the needs. I HAVE seen some developers doing that with new releases, i.e., VST2 only.

Yvan Grabit would say no - the way of the future is VST3 - focus on that. The problem with that approach is that a lot of DAWs still do not support VST3 - and maybe never will.

[mike_the_ranger]

The problem with that approach is that a lot of DAWs still do not support VST3 - and maybe never will.

Which ones?

[Vokbuz]

Let me ask a different question - are there any hosts out there that support VST3 but not VST2? Seems VST3 is the "odd ball".

Let me bring an analogy. When Apple removed floppy drives from their computers, there were people arguing the same way why removing floppy drives is bad. Now when Apple removed USB A and now uses USB C only in laptops, people argue that USB C is the “odd ball”. New always has fewer uses out there.

Support the API that your users use. If none of them needs VST3, you don’t have to support it.

[Deep Purple]

Let me ask a different question - are there any hosts out there that support VST3 but not VST2? Seems VST3 is the "odd ball".

I don't know, but there eventually will be.

I'm sure that AAX plugins were once considered the "odd ball" by Pro Tools users, but now Pro Tools only supports AAX and not its predecessor, RTAS.

[Topcheese]

I don't see a problem. In time new developers will be running circles around old developers and their ghost of VST2 past. The code for it is free and open-source, so good luck trying to slow down that train. I don't think VST2 is dying out anytime soon, and it's only new developers that have to make a choice.
It's been time to move on, so this really shouldn't be a surprise.

[imrae]

Let me bring an analogy. When Apple removed floppy drives from their computers, there were people arguing the same way why removing floppy drives is bad. Now when Apple removed USB A and now uses USB C only in laptops, people argue that USB C is the “odd ball”. New always has fewer uses out there.

USB floppy drives were pretty cheap and available, so people were able to continue using floppy disks. If after 10 years of portable USB drives being available people were still routinely using floppy disks, I'm not sure Apple would remove the driver support. They may have even quietly reintroduced the hardware. After all, they responded to low firewire adoption by dropping it eventually from their laptops, even though it was the superior technology to USB2. As for USB C, adaptors exist so again it's an inconvenience rather than a breaking change.

I'm having trouble making this analogy work really because removing features from consumer product releases into a competitive market isn't really that similar to refusing licenses for a dominant software API in order to promote the usage of a more cumbersome API.

[imrae]

The code for it is free and open-source, so good luck trying to slow down that train.

Only if your plugin release is GPL, right? That won't work for most commercial developers.

[Vokbuz]

I'm having trouble making this analogy work really because removing features from consumer product releases into a competitive market isn't really that similar to refusing licenses for a dominant software API in order to promote the usage of a more cumbersome API.

An analogy should not be and never is 100% precise. You see in this analogy different things and that's fine. What I wanted to show with it I wrote right after it.

[Smashed Transistors]

This authoritative attitude has nothing to do with the fact that they are a German company owned by a Japanese corporation.

[Vertion]

The Steinberg Analogy: "I'm glad you have been enjoying that gourmet VST2 candy cake, but it's time to move on to this steaming VST3 cow pie I made just for you. Don't worry, I put special fresh frosting on it. Eat it SCHNELL!!"

[Deep Purple]

The Steinberg Analogy: "I'm glad you have been enjoying that gourmet VST2 candy cake, but it's time to move on to this steaming VST3 cow pie I made just for you. Don't worry, I put special fresh frosting on it. Eat it SHNELL!!"

I think you misunderstand what constitutes an analogy.