Same is true for any tech thing. Sure, you can buy a perpetual licence for something but if you’re running it on anything but an isolated device then you will at minimum need security updates or the source code to fix it yourself. Same is true for things like console games where eventually the hardware will just die and it may become too expensive to replace it. Even emulation is case-by-case since some games use obscure calls which have no adequate emulation. Software doesn’t exist in isolation. For that, you have to revert to pen, paper and some analog tech.

Do you have a nebula subscription? If yes, what is your opinion of their lifetime tier?

I can't convince myself for the 300 dollar lifetime but do realize i would totally get the hours out of it.

Good advice in general; even contractual fuckery aside, you can't guarantee a company will even still exist this time next year.

The only time it paid off for me was for VPN Unlimited and Plex and even then, I barely use the former and Plex is being enshittified.

That’s the biggest reason I use Plex. I bought my lifetime pass over a decade ago, because the cost at the time was only slightly higher than an annual subscription. But luckily, you can run Jellyfin right alongside Plex, so it’s not an either/or situation, and I have Jellyfin ready to go in case Plex makes (more) anti-user moves.

Simplelogin just opened up their lifetime subscription deal. I think I calculated it and it will pay off in 4 or 5 years. I don't think I will get it though since I have proton unlimited already