LabVIEW is now the Unreal Engine?

[Jay14159265]

I got an email from NI today that links to this article. 

https://www.ni.com/en/perspectives/charting-course-test-development-labview.html?cid=EM-701VU0000034...

So NI wants to have the success of Unreal Engine? Here is soemthing they might want to take into account in order to achieve that. 

______________________________________________________________________

Unreal Engine license Highlights:

Free for: Game projects anticipating product revenues of less than $1 million USD

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/license

_______________________________________________________________________

LabVIEW license Highlights (warning NSFW): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c3bhh8fqYs 

https://www.ni.com/en/shop/labview/select-edition.html

________________________________________________________________________

[Intaris]

Hmm, interesting.

I've actually made suggestions on the topic of Unreal Engine to NI before, but aimed squarely at the differences in licensing, not functionality.

https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabVIEW-Roadmap-2022-Q3/m-p/4259519/highlight/true#M1240182

[Jay14159265]

---

@Intaris wrote:

Hmm, interesting.

I've actually made suggestions on the topic of Unreal Engine to NI before, but aimed squarely at the differences in licensing, not functionality.

https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabVIEW-Roadmap-2022-Q3/m-p/4259519/highlight/true#M1240182

---

Well I guess they were listening to the wrong part. I would be very interested to see the case study that shows LabVIEW in a position like Unreal Engine and not just a marketing blurb. The fact of the matter is that Unreal Engine is widely adopted by developers exactly because of great features combined with reasonable licensing.  As a direct result of NIs unreasonable  new licensing terms for LabVIEW I am now on the FOSS train. On that note if you are a game dev, drop Unity and try Godot : ) 

I feel like NI is now only interested in selling solutions as a service and LabVIEW is now just a line item on a service package they sell to Boing and Lockheed and those type companies. As a developer I will never work with a language I cant install and use fully on my home computer, because that option is readily available. I am less than happy with NIs recent changes to LabVIEW prices and terms of service but I guess there is some solace in the fact that I have enough sway in the circles I run in to move projects away from NI. I'm just now stuck in some purgatory because I spent 10 years learning and using LabVIEW and am still on the hook for some of the code I wrote over those 10 years but honestly if I have to go in and make any major changes, those changes now involve re-factoring away from LabVIEW. If anyone from NI is listening you still have a chance to win back at least one developer. Look at the licensing and pricing for Unreal Engine, if you want to actually be like Unreal Engine, copy and paste their terms of service over to LabVIEW! 

[NIquist]

I think a lot of us are on the FOSS train with you, even though many don't know it.  There are many, common apps on my PCs that are FOSS:  FOSSHUB

I also find it ironic that NI picked Unreal as an example of speedy development too.  It's far more niche (3D FPS) than Unity or Godot.  Unity is the de-facto speed king with its massive asset store, tutorials and plug-ins that automate everything for you.  I suspect they wanted to jump on the new Unreal Engine 5 hype and their new node-based programming is similar to LabVIEW.

Ironically, Unity just went through a big mess when their new CEO tried to get greedy with subscription prices, like NI.  The users squashed it (running for Godot), the CEO "resigned", and hopefully Unity Technologies learned an important lesson.  A lesson that NI refuses to learn.  😪

[Intaris]

---

@NIquist wrote:

I think a lot of us are on the FOSS train with you, even though many don't know it.  There are many, common apps on my PCs that are FOSS:  FOSSHUB

I also find it ironic that NI picked Unreal as an example of speedy development too.  It's far more niche (3D FPS) than Unity or Godot.  Unity is the de-facto speed king with its massive asset store, tutorials and plug-ins that automate everything for you.  I suspect they wanted to jump on the new Unreal Engine 5 hype and their new node-based programming is similar to LabVIEW.

Ironically, Unity just went through a big mess when their new CEO tried to get greedy with subscription prices, like NI.  The users squashed it (running for Godot), the CEO "resigned", and hopefully Unity Technologies learned an important lesson.  A lesson that NI refuses to learn.  😪

---

In fairness, Unreal is far more than just 3D FPS development. Quite a lot of professional 3D model landscapes are now using Unreal Engine, I believe multiple car manufacturers use it.

[Jay14159265]

---

@NIquist wrote:

...

Ironically, Unity just went through a big mess when their new CEO tried to get greedy with subscription prices, like NI.  The users squashed it (running for Godot), the CEO "resigned", and hopefully Unity Technologies learned an important lesson.  A lesson that NI refuses to learn.  😪

---

Yea, I imagine if NI was only LabVIEW they could not get away with the new high pricing SaaS paradigm.  But now there is a great opportunity with NImerson. They can run the LabVIEW division at a loss in order to sell other larger services for a profit and still come out on top. So they should do that! and just make LabVIEW free, think of what an easy sell that would be for all the NI sales reps. 

[Jay14159265]

So youtube just recommended me this disappointing but informative video about how VMware is raising prices 10x now that they own the market share on virtualization. Lots of parallels with people that made a business around NI/LabVIEW. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peH4ic7g5yc

Looks like the "shaft your small business customers" business model is spreading. Fight back, remove their hands from your pocket. There is nothing you can do in LabVIEW that you cant do in other languages. 

[Intaris]

---

@Jay14159265 wrote:

There is nothing you can do in LabVIEW that you cant do in other languages. 

---

Yes, but no.

Technically everything can be done with other languages, but for us (Windows, RT and FPGA) nothing comes close to allowing us to re-use code over so many targets with such a high level of productivity. I've coded in other languages, for our use, LabVIEW is kind of amazing.

Until we have a valid alternative, we're staying with LabVIEW. But the times are changing and as soon as we have similar prospects with others, that will definitely become a valid option very quickly.

[NIquist]

---

@Jay14159265 wrote:

---

@NIquist wrote:

...

Ironically, Unity just went through a big mess when their new CEO tried to get greedy with subscription prices, like NI.  The users squashed it (running for Godot), the CEO "resigned", and hopefully Unity Technologies learned an important lesson.  A lesson that NI refuses to learn.  😪

---

Yea, I imagine if NI was only LabVIEW they could not get away with the new high pricing SaaS paradigm.  But now there is a great opportunity with NImerson. They can run the LabVIEW division at a loss in order to sell other larger services for a profit and still come out on top. So they should do that! and just make LabVIEW free, think of what an easy sell that would be for all the NI sales reps. 

---

"Nimerson". 😂  Definitely stealing that!