User-herding

The software I'm fighting tonight gives no reason for the error messages it's generating...or, rather, the real reason for the errors. What it says is wrong and what's actually wrong are two different things, which I can confirm both via the web interface and the database.

Unfortunately, consulting such "Help" as there is has long since been an exercise in learned helplessness. So far as I and the algorithmic alchemy of Google know, my version's Help was taken offline, to be replaced by the Help of the newest version. Never mind that the user interface has been extensively overhauled in the interim.

Yes, I realize that sooner or later it makes less than no sense to support versions that might not survive evolutions in platform. Or that really crufty code could leave the user (and, to a certain extent the developer) vulnerable to viruses or other malfeasance. But abandoning users one version back? Who might have darned good reasons for not living on the bleeding edge?

To me, that's mind-blowing. Partly from the standpoint of, well, it's just rude, but also because there is absolutely no gain from doing that. I mean, it's not like older Help files have to be put out to pasture with their very own domain and hosting. The space they take in the existing hosting environment should be negligible. (In fact, if user forums are the main source of support, you can pretty much bet on losing more space to the questions than the answers will ever require.) Moreover, no one expects the old files to be updated once the new version is crowned, so it's not like precious time would be siphoned off for keeping the manual springtime-fresh.

But in the meantime, legacy users--you know, the ones who cost you less to please than potential users--have been informed in no uncertain terms that they will ride with the vanguard or be left for the bandits and wolves to pick off. Now, I don't like to use the "herd" meme, because it implies slow-moving, slower-witted livestock. But the makers of the software I'm working with apparently don't even that high of an opinion of their users. And I fervently hope that they don't actually believe that they're not encouraging any evolution in their customer-base.