Farewell to LabView!

I'm a long time user of LabView but with new management comes a new company logo and a change in the licensing. If you're big on renting your software, this is good news for you. For the rest of us, it marks the end of an era.
You can read more about it here:
lavag.org/topic/22358-nis-new...
forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/NI-s...
forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabV...

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Looks like NI may be going up for sale. Is anyone really surprised? www.statesman.com/story/business/technology/2023/01/13/austin-national-instruments-exploring-possible-sale-technology-sector/69807646007/

[@perpetualimpressions122]

was taken over in a hostile take over by Emerson in October

[@EEVblog]

Damn, that sucks. I remember using LabWindows CVI (essentially Labviews version of C) and really liked it. We always had a contractor write LabView stuff.

[@szabolcs__]

DAVE funny more and more channel i bump into you , But on the subject i like LW because i have to spend less time to program ui.

[@szabolcs__]

and one thing, where i work with this softwere, is a closed network from the internet, so no sub based programs. So NI say its needs internet good by next supplier.

[@Randrew]

My company still uses Labwindows/CVI and it's been really good to use. Now we're in early stages of finding another solution that may also mean we stop buying NI hardware.

[@TheRailroad99]

CVI is great. One of the easiest to use C gui toolkits

[@NugTrace]

I actively avoid software subscription, and I have spent a lot of time looking for alternatives in the past. I refuse to support companies that only offer subscriptions... I ended up on this video probably since I've been looking at test software since I need to setup a test system, and having used LabView in the past, I was considering it... Not anymore if they don't offer a perpetual license... It always surprises me how companies can shoot themselves in the foot, and all to try and make an extra quick buck. The really sad part is that by the time they realize this, the people responsible for this mess will have been generously rewarded, and moved on...

[@johnclarke2997]

Monthly subscription only leads of hacking and crack production being more common amongst students and home users. Corporate users will not be too bothered.

[@brucetouzel6484]

what do you recommend as an alternative to LabView ?

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

Sad, but it's a really bad global trend - nothing will be for sale anymore, only for rent (even clothes now). As they dared to say "You will own nothing"...

[@samadams6487]

Yes that's all part of the World economic Forum, transhumanism and of course the bilderbergers and considerably more. Once they reduce the world's population I'm not going to get into because too many of you are not ready to believe the truth, they will use social credit try and control us and failing that guns. One of their big goals of course is total civilian disarmament. Those leftists in our own governments who are desperate for civilian disarmament do so because they fear a REAL insurrection. It won't actually be an Insurrection but a very bloody civil war between the tyrants and those of us who love the Constitution. That day is coming the way there say I cannot predict when but sadly the sooner the better. Those who are trying to disarm the civilian population are pouting the Small Arms treaty that the United Nations has put out and expect to use it to negate the Second Amendment which forbids government from any form of infringement, a contractual point that the government ignores almost entirely, however they are forgetting the supremacy clause which requires that any laws and treaties made under the authority of the United States which become a supreme law of the land, in that same sentence requires it to be pursuant to the US Constitution. Such a treaty not being pursuant to the Constitution would be void. The hopes of the left to disarm us relies on the fact that we are ignorant of the Constitutional requirements of supremacy clause that any laws and treaties must be pursuant to the Constitution or they are void. The Supreme Court in Marbury versus Madison in 1803 stated as:" laws that are repugnant to the Constitution are void." We shall never be in the condition where we own nothing. Everyone who supports the world economic forum and the idea to dispossess us of our private property will find themselves hanged after proper conviction by a militia court.

[@DJAYPAZ]

Subscription software is just another way for developers to get more money from customers. It’s a bad idea for many reasons especially in terms of archival needs. I will not purchase subscription software. Where possible I use open source software. The problem of tech support you described is not uncommon. I had a similar problem many years ago with a HP pen plotter that had a comms problem. HP tech support were unable to solve the problem. After several days of investigation I discovered a simple problem with a configuration file and solved the problem. Some weeks later HP tech support telephone me to close off the support request. They were surprised to hear I had solved the problem and practically begging me to tell them what the fix was.

[@JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

@@DJAYPAZ Yep. You pay and keep paying and, most importantly, you never own the product.

[@Don.Challenger]

"You will own nothing"; but you will owe a lot.

[@Don.Challenger]

@@DJAYPAZ You say: "Open a support ticket with me."

[@kingofcastlechaos]

NI has a lot of good people working for it. They built something amazing, and have helped FIRST robotics in a HUGE way. Then their leadership changed and the new people (who were not part of building anything amazing) decided they know best. (No matter, their golden parachute is pre-packed.) I had been a huge fan and taught many kids how to code in LabView, but our team decided to leave the NI world last year. Many more will follow and we are sad for our friends at NI whose stellar careers might be harmed by crappy management decisions. Really sad to watch.

[@Mike-ng6jo]

Yup I was there 10 years and left just recently.

[@yugiohfanatic1964]

managers are the cancer of every company. They look for their own short-term figure and show "hey I made +10% or +20%". With this move they have generated lots of money (and losing many customers, but that's not a problem). The only good news is "hey we made +20%" That's managers. THe fact that young people wanna become managers is the worst threat to the planet. They must be fighted. They ruins countries' economies

[@fiveangle]

This echo's my experience with so many similar old-growth hardware/software companies and it's astounding how they invariably all succumb to the "flog the existing customer base until the horse is a bloody pulp" method of driving their once-thriving business into the ground.

[@brodriguez11000]

An exploration of why it's a "once-thriving business" would be an important clue.

[@excitedbox5705]

The problem is that if an investment company can buy out a company or product for $100 million and beat $500 million out of the user base before the product dies, they don't care. Profit is profit and there is always the next company to buy out or open source project to take proprietary. The only ones who lose are the customers who get fleeced and in the end have to switch to a new solution or keep getting extorted. CPanel/WHM raised their prices TWICE in 1 year. A total of 75%. A lifetime license used to cost $3k, and now it is $1.50+ PER hosting account PER month. They also own their only major competitor (Plesk). Their product is also mostly built on open source software, and their code makes up less than 0.001% of the actual work that went into what they are selling.

[@kentvandervelden]

NI sued a professor friend, if I remember correctly, over what they claimed was a patent infringement, but the patent assumed a problem proven unsolvable by computer science had been solved by NI's patent. My friend fought, at the risk of this small company. In the midst of the lawsuit NI offered to buy his company, presumably to get the working tech and avoid possible invalidation of NI's patent. My friend prevailed at the lawsuit, a win for the small guys, but with great expense. I have no love for NI, similar monolithic moot dependent expensive software or for software subscriptions. Glad to help with open software if possible and you ever need it. Wishing you the best of success

[@parmmohan4603]

Ahhhh, I LOVE listening to your old stories! Keep them coming. I remember Borland’s and NI was having trouble giving Labview away for free for most of the years.

[@technobubba4]

Borland had great 'debug' support in their C compiler

[@pasha1663]

It was a big news for me this week. I am glad that you try to raise community attention to this problem.

[@andyash5675]

I've lost count of the number of companies that have tried to coerce me into using LabVIEW. I've always resisted for this reason among others. Right now I'm out of test and back in design, so this is a fascinating insight. Everybody always hates me for saying it, but C has never let me down and I doubt it will in my lifetime!

[@picklerix6162]

Yes, C is the way to go. I have a friend who is a LabView expert and he has been laid off so many times because he doesn’t know anything but LabView.

[@alexlo7708]

@@picklerix6162 So he should submit his resume to NI.

[@12kenbutsuri]

Whta's C?

[@andyash5675]

@@12kenbutsuri One more than 'B'. 🙂 Also it is my generic description for a plethora of text based programming languages capable of binding with a windows DLL. If you can do that then you can easily use NIMax (which is quite good) to communicate with most NI hardware (which is also quite good). In that sense C could be Python, or Forth, Pascal or Java. Many of those languages are quite proprietary and so C is a good choice because it was produced in academia and is non-partisan (unless your spoken language requires something other than a Latin character set).

[@12kenbutsuri]

@@andyash5675 cool!

[@bertholtappels1081]

The problem here is that many SaaS companies, and now also NI, don’t seem to understand that the key intellectual contribution is on the APPLICATION level. You use their products to achieve something, not for the sake of it. It’s okay to sell a product that enables other people to do great things. Being envious of that is not constructive. It is like a company making wheel bolts thinking they are entitled to annually recurring revenue, because they keep people safe by preventing wheels from falling off. Or a steel plant charging a subscription for a bridge where their rebar was used. Thanks for taking the time to explain the whole story.

[@TheSimoc]

Exactly. SaaS is among the stupidest hype nowadays. Furthermore, software industry in general has not during last couple of decades provided any significant improvements on utility value nor user experience. Instead, LOTS of contrary. More and more horrible UIs, horribly obese bloat and inefficiency, incompatibility issues, whatmore. All for sake of change. And they even dare to think we should pay for such crap. And ironically they even dare to claim that it would not be profitable to do proper, efficient coding. Well, why make such a crap then at all, in first place? Noughties and earlier software worked just better.

[@mreese8764]

The problems is, that as soon as the software is perfect, it will never need to be replaced again. So, if you want a company to keep improving their product you either pay for it annually or buy the new products. But most people will be happy with the old versions and don't care about the small improvements and will not buy new versions. So, the SaaS model is the best way out if you actually still want to have some developers doing some developing. But, if the do not do that, there is really no reason for a SaaS model.

[@bertholtappels1081]

@@mreese8764 and @HellofromEarth Yes, and I cannot help thinking that the desire to keep the gravy train momentum going, is not all that different from how the Soviet Union back in its days kept on producing undesirable things long after the demand dried up. You need to keep workers busy! NI could, of course, develop a NEW product that clients actually WANT to pay for, but that would be a lot of work and risk. No one wants that.

[@TheSimoc]

@@mreese8764 Yes, that is the exact problem for all greedy businesses. But honestly, if there really is need for improvements AND companies really provide such, people will be happy to pay for them. They will buy pay-once to have a really needed new feature, just like they have been paying from the program in first place, for its first version. Just like people happily pay for aftermarket accessories for their cars, and even upgrade their entire cars when they need or desire. In certain niche situations, where software is naturally integral part of a provided service solution or where the process where the software is used is naturally constantly evolving (e.g. some research projects), even SaaS may be a rather natural, agile, and viable arrangement. It is like leasing special equipment for special needs. But generally, when there is no more true need for upgrades, then the business has accomplished its mission, company has got the market-warranted profits and it is time to move into another businesses, where needs prevail. No-one is supposed to pay, nor are any companies supposed to work for unnecessary things. Or even less, for worse stuff than before. I wouldn't pay annual licence payment for a car manufacturer just to be allowed to use my car. Nor I would pay for upgrading my car without need. Nor would I buy a new car that is worse than the old. Greedy companies hate to have to work for providing some actual additional value in order to receive revenue. But honest companies know that world will never be perfect, and thus there are always something to work to provide something new that people really need and are happy to pay, not just for sake of change, novelty, an push by companies.

[@yugiohfanatic1964]

@@mreese8764 Labview is FAR from perfect , even now

[@ickipoo]

Wow. I had been quietly impressed with what you were able to do with LabView. What a kick in the face.

[@grhinson]

That was awesome. Not directly relevant to my work but one of my favorite videos this year. Your logic is flawless. I hate it when no one wants to look at the real problem or create a convoluted solution...

[@johnwest7993]

I do enjoy your droll sense of humor, Joe. I've steered clear of NI and LabView for myself, mostly because of the price, but now because of the price and their attitude. Thanks for this video.

[@rainaj5706]

Thanks for all the information, updates and your time.

[@mstoer]

I have Labview 2014 (Maker Edition, 32 bit). Does everything I need and it is perpetual. It's ridiculous how many companies went to subscription just to milk customers claiming it was for our benefit.

[@samadams6487]

Yes well, they learned well from the Democratic party to tell us whatever they're sick message is and basically using a mass hypnosis convince everybody that it's for our everybody's own good. They insist we believe them and not our Lying Eyes.

[@VRchitecture]

NI could shut down verification servers for old versions of the product, so you won’t be able to activate your Labview anymore :/ This is what happened to Adobe CS applications.

[@mstoer]

@@VRchitecture Mine works without internet access. No verification required.

[@VRchitecture]

@@mstoer Well, that’s great!

[@clearskies1234]

As a long term user of LabVIEW for university research i have also dumped it and moved away from proprietary software environments entirely. I find that open source solutions though not as sophisticated are good enought and don't lock you in to the whims of a corporate policy changes.

[@rossrobinson7943]

Which open source alternatives do you find work well for you?

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

Here’s a tip: if you want to make an Open Source solution better, why not hire someone to improve it for you? Imagine if just a few hundred users of LabVIEW or whatever pooled the money they would have paid that company, towards funding further development of Open Source technology -- that would end up benefiting everybody.

[@brodriguez11000]

@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 : Open source is complaining about the same thing close-source is. People using but not contributing back, with closed that being money, and in open, money, and other means.

[@clearskies1234]

@@rossrobinson7943 I now use python with kivy GUI or Electron depending on the application. There is a python api for NI daq hardware which does everything i need.

[@bren42069]

@@clearskies1234 that's what's up. Python is a great platform for this kind of stuff

[@Randrew]

My long-time employer makes automated test machines for hydraulic parts. We've used LabWindows/CVI since its version 9 (maybe before that) to program their UI and test sequencing. Some of the machines we've made are still in use at our customers' plants after 30+ years. We've always tried to support our customers no matter the age of their machines, though sometimes that does require upgrades. We currently support machines whose code was built on at least 5 different, licensed Labwindows/CVI versions. We used to maintain old dev PCs with the right environments, now we use VMs, but we always maintain software to support software development for the machines we've sold. We even have our old 2500AD brand Z80 cross-assembler for the oldest machines out there. I'm still not sure if CVI has gone to the subscription model or not, but I assume it has. MAYBE a single subscription will support all old subscription versions we might have to maintain? I don't know. But they could change their license model again at any time. So for now we'll continue to use the last, perpetual licensed version we have, but now we're planning to migrate to some other solution. That solution will probably mean we stop using NI hardware (DAQ, counter/timers, etc) along the way... which is where we've spent most of our money with NI the last ~20 years. I guess we've spent nearly a million dollars on NI hardware in that time - a whole lot for our small company that's never had more than 20 employees.

[@paulboyd2728]

Thanks for this video Joe. I am moving to a new company that currently uses LabVIEW RT and FPGA in there production test development . In this new position I will be the St. Test Engineer and Test system Architect for the company. After 25 year of using LabVIEW, I have been an avid user and promoter. But, based on the New Licensing model I will have to advise my new employer to first freeze our current test development at LabVIEW 2017 and second to start the process of moving away from using LabVIEW as our principle test development environment. This model may work for business and accounting software, but when you attempt to apply it the engineering software you drive the engineers way. I predict that if NI dose not reverse curse on this, in less then 4-5 year python will become the dominant test programming language. Then it's bye-bye NI

[@yjweaver5108]

What do you plan to migrate to?

[@filipsurbek2954]

@@yjweaver5108 Try Matdeck

[@MladenMijatov]

Sad thing is that none of the management realizes change to this pricing model is the last step towards end of that software. It is like you say an attempt to increase revenue but what they don't realize is that there's nowhere to go after switching to subscription and they all like higher revenue. So prices are bound to go up to a point where people will simply give up and stop using it. Once they lose critical mass of users needed to make software profitable that's it, there's no turning back. That's why open source in combination with subscription based model is best. Being open source means a lot of people will use it, both those that can and can not afford it, creating a huge user base. But people will still be willing to pay for support if it's reasonable enough. Subscription doesn't need to be extortionist. Something affordable per year doesn't mean a lot to a professional using the software, but with few hundred thousand subscribers it's a viable product.

[@guillep2k]

Oh, they might realize alright. The problem is that bonuses are probably calculated according to annual revenue, so they'll still get fat checks at the end of the year.

[@thatduder5943]

@@guillep2k Or (a distinct possibility) killing the Labview software was the end-goal.

[@kennarnett8220]

Unfortunately I dont agree. You need a cadre of dedicated software engineers to support software. Open source means you are your own developer, which is opposite what you need to be: product focused. Laboratory group meetings now are dominated by questions of "how do I write the software..." when the discussions should be focused on the physics, chemistry, or product development.

[@vejymonsta3006]

Errrr. Not really. Labview is a tool more specifically marketed towards manufacturing test engineers and physicists. The cost of a software subscription is nothing in comparison to the cost of hiring highly skilled software engineers to meet the same requirements on a hard timeline. I can speak from experience. Manufacturing test development is ALWAYS underscoped by management and a small sized test department absolutely relies on tools like Labview to get their jobs done on time. Rapid development and iteration is an incredibly greater value to test engineers than efficiency or cost of entry.

[@nrdesign1991]

Did my Bachelor's thesis in LabVIEW this year. I saw the transition from LV2020 to LV2021 with the change to a purely subscription based license. Pretty much everyone at the company is grumpy about it.

[@964tractorboy]

The subscription model: the single biggest death-blow to innovation imo. I remember Adobe as being one of the first to adopt this “sharp business practice”. It’s always been a transparent cash-grab dressed-up as anything but. Not on my watch. Never!

[@nobytes2]

Software Engineer here, it isn't about being cash grab is about using the subscription money to keep paying the engineers that keep working on the software. The old pay once receive unlimited upgrades model is just archaic and makes companies go broke.

[@TickyTack23]

@@nobytes2 Also software engineer, that is a great selling point for the corporate executives to make to stakeholders, while downsizing staff and reporting quarterly profits. Not saying that is what everyone is doing. But a subscription model can be both a good and bad thing depending on how it's executed.

[@nobytes2]

@@TickyTack23 definitely most pero don't think about ongoing maintenance and support for applications it cannot be endless support forever. I agree some subs are way too expensive.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

It’s a great way to remove any incentive to keep improving your software, because the -suckers- customers will keep on paying regardless.

[@Randrew]

@@nobytes2 NI didn't provide unlimited upgrades. In my case when the features of CVI 2013 (for example) were a compelling upgrade from CVI 2010, we bought the upgrade. NI's hardware and software have always been expensive, but worth it to those who need it. Again in my case, some of our customer have machines of ours that are over 30 years old and still running in their factories. Some of them are running on Z80s programmed in assembly language, others are running C language apps under ROMDOS and every one of them from 2003 onward are running LabWindows/CVI under some flavor of Windows. And we still support every one of them (for a cost). To that end, we maintain all of our software development tools, from the 2500ad brand cross-assembler for Z80 to LabWindowsCVI 2017 in either old hardware systems or VMs. I don't see how we could go forward with that support model using a product that dies or must be upgraded every year.

[@RN1441]

It is what it is. I've never worked with a 'software as a service' where I found the updates worth the spend, in fact it more often than not seems to cause headaches when the software is "upgraded" changing the UI and or adjusting functionality. I had professional licenses for Eagle CAD due to both work and hobby, and when that moved over to the 'held hostage in the cloud' model of perpetual licensing I decided it was time to just move on. Thankfully there's an excellent FOSS solution in the form of KiCAD, but other applications might suffer with this more than others.

[@ShyuLee]

I am glad I started my career with C/C++, and being a pixel artist helps me design my own GUI.

[@R.B.]

In college, I used LabVIEW 6i for a lot of projects. I even built some of my own drivers in C to connect peripherals. It was a good experience. After college, I thought it was prohibitively expensive and so I've stayed away. Sadly, I will not consider going back to it now at all with a subscription model. Good luck, NI.

[@johanneswerner1140]

Same here! It was a great time... what about the Lego Mindstorms software? That is labview under the hood, AFAIK.

[@R.B.]

@@johanneswerner1140 I wasn't aware of that about Mindstorm. As it is, I spend most of my time writing code in C#. LabVIEW did introduce me to dataflow/visual programming languages like MaxMSP and Pure Data, so for that I'm grateful. For a lab space I'm about to build, I had been considering revisiting LabVIEW, but that seems unlikely because of the impact that would have on the budget. As strange as it might seem, Mindstorm kits might actually be an approach I consider though, both for its NXT-G and NXT. I was thinking Field Point Modules, but I'm sure there are better solutions out there today.

[@johanneswerner1140]

Good luck! I'm currently too much focused on woodworking, but I have some electronic projects planned (and getting a small lab started for that, nothing excessive). It'll have to wait. Mindstorms is also on my wish list... (that too will have to wait). Seems to have a number of ways to program it in different languages as well!

[@Mrjonblakely]

I was a LabView programmer from 1990-2013. It worked well for the reliability lab where I worked. It was a good tool. I do remember one of their reps calling our procurement officer and claiming that I was trying to bootleg their newest version. All I did was ask some questions about the new version because it was likely to affect my work. Sorry to hear of their demise.

[@stevescheberle277]

Totally agree with you. The sad thing is that everybody is moving to this pricing model, not just software, but hardware too.

[@dcocz3908]

Its troubling, just think of a machine tool running in a factory based upon labview components on a PC and sometime in the middle of the night the oven stays switched on because of a date change in the control software caused the license to expire

[@kevinhardy8930]

Who said 'you will own nothing, and be happy"? He wasn't lying about owning nothing. We will have to see about being happy.

[@mumblecake251]

@@dcocz3908 I'd be very worried if they would use the development version of LabVIEW in such an environment. Production environments should only have compiled executables/libraries running which only require run-time engines. The LV RTE doesn't require any license. If you are using Teststand, Vision or Sound and Vibration you will require a deployment license for those toolkits which continue to be perpetual.

[@rjhornsby]

if any of this was really about benefiting customers, the lease vs perpetual license would be our choice. That it’s not a choice - cynical as this is - tells us everything we need to know.

[@OneBiOzZ]

I have been using C# for automation for years and years. Easy windows forums, lots of well documented libraries including 2D and 3D plotters, (semi) easy hardware access, exc but at work as of late for automation we use almost exclusively use python and use almost no UI elements and if we do its a web interface. either way i can pump things out much faster than i can in C++

[@vencibushy]

You should see what the big companies are doing in the automotive. Last year we had to pay somewhere around 5k euros just to have a freaking PCIe slot unlocked inside piece of industrial test equipment. Overall just in our department we spend around 20k euros/year for "software support and updates".

[@alexlavoie9696]

Unfortunately we don't own much anymore, they make us think we do. But rental is been the way companies do business for years now.. It really sad indeed but no most people don't seem to care or realize that it's a big problem. Right to repair is definitely one of them . I really enjoy the series you made with this tool. Keep up the good work ✊️✊️✊️

[@jafinch78]

A round about desperately slow re-enslavement of the masses scheme seems on some days... with strange not productive and under the guise of "development" schemes that don't seem to really tangibly produce or process survival requirements raw materials to make those healthier survival requirements goods. Made me go "nuts" and I had to go through a bunch only not becoming so emotionally magnified after C.B.T. Guessing more than "Ethyl" like narcotics, sexual deviants and inbreeds from the operation paperclip now with modern "health attack" concealed wireless assault weapons that beam form sound, body and mind control effects. Statistically proven also since 1956 if I recall correctly. Veristatum recently made a YT video on the "Ethyl" though there's more to the story with other not only clandestine ways and means.

[@ForOurGood]

I hate subscription applications... On so many different levels.

[@dropsosense1506]

Oh the good ole days of Borland Basic. It was first called Turbo Basic until it was bought by Borland. Bob Zale bought it back from Borland and renamed it Power Basic and it is still around today and also has a Windows compiler.

[@airheadbit1984]

Starting with the LabVIEW 2022 Q3 release, the debug and deployment license activates your edition of LabVIEW, LabVIEW FPGA, LabVIEW Real-Time, all LabVIEW toolkits, and the LabVIEW Mathscript Module. - So for $2,773 + $2,773 or $5,546 + any add-ins needed you now can keep projects working.. Such a deal

[@David-sp7gc]

I am with you. Started using Ni with 2006i. Can’t use them anymore for the same reasons. Many years ago tech support was decent. These days I often know more than the person on the phone. I have many licenses from them. Including TestStand and Compact Rio. Don’t get me started on their 2 Gb driver for just a serial port.

[@mikestrutt322]

From the work perspective, we had been on software subscription for many years. So really not a huge change for us. We use Labview for Lab Work and the runtime for production, we have found it to be reliable and robust. The neigh sayers usually don't know how to code in Labview and haven't been trained. The only main gripe for me now is that the User interface looks old they really should freshen it up now. The latest Green washing by National Instruments to become NI, with all new rebranding handing their hardware distribution over to agents, is the rocky slide that Keysight took, and it ends up diminishing the brand. I agree that small companies/one man bands can't afford this subscription model, and you should have a perpetual licence. Great looking interface on your software, regards Mike

[@SirMagicK]

I got off labview completely over a decade ago. Luckily my company didn't like being stuck in their ecosystem either. Since then i've written numerous amounts of drivers and ui controls across the whole hp/agilent/keysight family and a few control boards out of the ni/mcc suite. Mostly in c#, converted allot of the ui over to wpf a few years ago. Worth the effort to not go through endless licencing bs.

[@speedy3496]

Sadly this became common practice for all the fields. Had the same issue with a program I own. I remember telling them, you are making an house owner a renter. I strongly believe a line should be drawn when selling a product to individual users. It is sad but this is the reality we are living in.

[@ernestb.2377]

Interesting to listen to your story, as I am also years long user of LabView, from 2003. We use it from time to time, as we do a lot of different projects.. My company buys almost every year a new license, so for me personally it is not an issue, but of course for the home use it would be a big investment now for just 1 year. I did not know either that they have switched the licensing system, but maybe my colleague know because he does this every year... What I was expected at the end of this video that you will come up with an alternative 🙂 And you are absolutely right, developing of some test and measurements applications in LabView is rapid if you have the experience. I would not how long it would take with another software as I have not the experience in that. I like the idea of the open-source projects like Python, and a bunch of libraries. Is that maybe a way to go?

[@kennarnett8220]

Greetings! I always enjoy your vids and the knowledge you transfer. I too have been a big Labview fan and was a early adopter. I saw the rental model coming on various software and have been planning to move forward on old computers with infinite license software. When operating a company there are three rules to follow to increase profits (on the short term): 1. Improve product quality to increase sales; 2. Steal from employees in unpaid overtime and reduced salaries; and 3. Steal from the customers.

[@danrohler1329]

Joe, You should look into Python as a replacement for Labview. You'll need to add some packages like matplotlib, tkinter and numpy. Python has a very impressive scientific and engineering community with libraries that blow away labview's environment. Matplotlib can duplicate or exceed matlab. It's all free public domain including for commercial apps. The syntax is elegant and powerful. I used labview at Raytheon for 12 years writing test s/w for missile control boards in early 2000's before retiring in 2012. Labview was getting more and more greedy then. We had to buy licenses for each test station. I can easily duplicate anything I did in labview at home with python. I control an oscilloscope, power supply and homemade solar tracker with a 10 DOP gyro/accelerometer board, 2ch motor controller board using a raspberry pie via its I2C bus. I love your gui in your video. Dan Rohler

[@flingmonkey5494]

"We had to buy licenses for each test station." That is why I liked LabWindows/CVI, I could freely spam the executable to as many test stations as I wanted, and I would do entire production lines. I am trying to do Python at my current company, but I keep running into installation issues. I have had Python deleted and re-installed on my laptop by various "experts" at my company six or seven times. As far as I am concerned it seems to be worth everything we paid for it. My new company has serious issues with it's products and new features and they desperately need answers now, and I am fed up futzing with Python when I can just turn to LabWindows/CVI and get the answers they need quickly. I just wish that NI had not turned flakey.

[@arampak]

@@flingmonkey5494 What kind of installation issues you have with Python? I'd suggest you use Linux, where Python comes natively with the system and some virtual python environment tool (venv may be enough) to separate the projects.

[@flingmonkey5494]

@@arampak So I should learn a new OS as well as a new language? I would love to do that, but truth be told I am 68 years old and I am not interested in restarting my career. I am being faced with testing challenges daily, and I reach for the tools that let me produce the results and answers needed as fast as possibly. A nice bonus is that people are loving the slick GUI interfaces I offer. The logging I do on my tests give huge insight into problems I see, and with a little Arduino help I can get you good results fast and cheap. If I was young and just starting out, yeah, Linux and Python would be the way to go. But at my time in my career I think helping solve problems in the here-and-now will see me through to age 70. At that point I can examine my options. Python has been a HUGE pain in the butt for me. I installed it on my home system, but on my work system there was always something that refused to work, like pyserial, or the editor, or the ability to run a simple program I had written. There was always lots of head-scratching and beard-pulling followed by a delete and re-install. In the meantime, my LabWindows programs ran flawlessly. Here is the question: If you want me to build you a house, are you going to nit-pick the kind of hammer I use?

[@arampak]

@@flingmonkey5494 I was just suggesting a solution to the problem you've described. You are free to chose your tool, of course. As to the customers, they sometimes care about tool we are using: if you hire a plumber and see someone in strange clothes with ancient tools, you'd be scared. LabView is a good tool: I had a limited exposure to it and it's not bad at all. But the thing is: it may be discontinued any time as many tools in the past, or it may become obsolete. In the modern world professionals can't rely on the particular tool for the life. If they want to be on top of the things, they should learn new tools all the time. Python is not that hard at all, and definitely does not deserve to be called "pain in the butt". Learning how to program an FPGA or how to use a modern measuring device is a way more complex task, and electronics professionals face tasks like that all the time. Actually, Python is one of the easiest languages to learn, that's why it is included in school curricula in many countries and devices such as Raspberri Pi were inspired by the idea of teaching Python to kids.

[@technobubba4]

@@flingmonkey5494 RTFM !

[@joaopaulocoelho5401]

You're absolutely right. The strategy currently used to market the software is now done through licenses that expire after one year. This is something that happens with most computer programs used for industrial purposes. Of course, industries always have ways of spreading these annual costs through different financial instruments. However, it is a commerce model that is not friendly to the person who wants to use the software for educational purposes. This ends up pushing people away towards alternative open-source solutions (albeit with due limitations and weaknesses)

[@ingframin]

I studied Labview in university (5.7 I believe...) and always avoided it like the plague when I started working. Luckily, the gods sent us Python, PyVISA, PySerial, and many gui toolkits.

[@yugiohfanatic1964]

that all sucks like stink. enjoy

[@vejymonsta3006]

You can still use the community version of Labview for free on your personal projects. As a business expense, Labview isn't really a big expense if you only have a single or a few test engineers managing an entire factory's automated test systems. Retain one engineer knowledgeable in Labview or hire several software engineers to just manage manufacturing software? A few grand/year is a small cost comparatively.

[@Jollyprez]

My current version of Photoshop is circa 2007. It runs on an ancient Mac Pro. We got ALL of the Adobe software available at the time. The main changes since were relatively small and only Adobe Premiere was getting any love. Our Microsoft software is from the same era as well. I only have ONE subscription - but it's $11 per month and is the Jetbrains IDE product which I use every single day. At $11 / month it's completely reasonable price - Labview for $3,000 / year is ridiculous. I bet they'd make more money if they charged $99 per year - I would have a sub for it, but do most of my stuff on Raspberry Pi now, and don't need it.

[@xisthNB]

Interesting, at my work we bought some perpetual licenses a few Days ago. They where rough to find online but I just talked to sales and they had no issue providing a perpetual license.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Assuming that's true, after I discovered that I signed up for a rental and requested a refund, not one person from NI sales contacted me, let alone to offer to sell me a perpetual license. It would have been an easy sale.

[@EgonSorensen]

Some companies exists to serve customers - other companies require customers to serve them. 'Too big to fail' - until otherwise is proven, sadly. Best of luck in the future!

[@everetthall7401]

Hi Joe, I agree with you, end of an era. Nothing more than a money grab to change to the subscription model. We are evaluating options for our business. I'm afraid that NI has gone the way of HP... MBA's, and marketers run the company now...

[@omaralmazan3126]

I am new to labview and i really enjoy it. After watching this video I am questioning whether or not I should continue learning it, if not what are other programs do y’all suggest? I been hearing python would be ideal.

[@nikmilosevic1696]

I remember LabWindows, wonder if I still have a copy of it somewhere, loved using that back in the day with Borland C. But its very sad to hear LabView has gone subscription. Hope I still have an old copy of it to play with, because I definitely dont rent software for home use!

[@ElijahKerry]

LabVIEW is alive and well! Furthermore, NI is listening to the community feedback and changes are being made to the licensing!

[@andrewshiner1606]

I am sorry that so much of your work hit a wall with this change from our friends at National Instruments. I remember the missing undo feature in Labview 3 and obsessively saving before each operation. I suggest using Python and trying to build the UI with the free version of Plotly Dash

[@airheadbit1984]

Seems RapidMiner ($7,500.00 per user per month) joined NI in the suicide march

[@jimturpin]

The first time I tried to use National Instrument software and it required I buy one of their expensive GPIB controllers to work, I decided NI wasn't going to be a part of the picture. I use the Prologix GPIB controllers that were a third of the price, and I write the ATE software from scratch for the test systems where I work. No multi hundred megabit drivers, small tight and fast code, everything takes less than 5 megabits and it is essentially compatible with all GPIB instruments due to the non-proprietary method of controlling GPIB devices through user editable external scripts. Plus unlike NI, it can communicate with our companies proprietary communication protocol to turn things on, set levels, calibrate ports, etc. while controlling the GPIB hardware separately. Sounds like you and I need to collaborate and roll our own software and release it to the public domain and free the world of test equipment users from this kind of tyranny!

[@joesmith-je3tq]

As I mentioned in the video, I use the ENET/GPIB controllers for home. After NI dropped support for them, I reverse engineered the protocol and now directly talk to them over Ethernet. Works but was disappointed that they would not release the source code or details about the protocol and I had to spend time reverse engineering them. And the fact they had better things to do like screw up the serial ports of all things while working on NXG. Top management at work. And people wonder why I seldom upgraded.

[@SomeRandomPerson]

@6:56 "This change was mainly made for the benefits that it will bring to the customers" ... like having all that pesky cash sitting in your wallet. It's always such a chore to figure out what to do with all that spare cash - can't eat it, it's not good for toilet paper. Glad they've got a solution for that particular problem.

[@klave8511]

Keysight Vee user here, waiting for that to go subscription. It seemed to stagnate at V9.3 but still does everything I need so I guess I can stay with it.

[@lidarman2]

As a professional user of Labview in an actual lab environment, I think Labview is best for going into a lab to do an experiment and making a quick and dirty data acquisition and control set up. That is the strength of NI products. But you pay a large price so it is not great for large applications and or lots of copies of similar hardware like in a production product. We use Labview a lot in my lab especially using the FPGA package, but still but ultimately, long term we are moving to programming FPGA directly using HDL. Still Labview has a place if you have the resources in a Laboratory environment.

[@Drforbin941]

do you know anything about fixing an old tek tds540 scope?

[@mercster]

I'm not an engineer and this application is a bit too deep in the weeds for me to wrap my head around... but I did look for some open source alternatives and it seems they aren't plentiful. Which surprises me, since science/engineering software is often some of the first things that get dealt with in open source (or it used to be)... Sorry for your experience. Since LabView has a "dwindling userbase", I wonder what people are using now that can replace its functionality? Or has the engineering got to a place where completely different tools are used. Interesting video.

[@PaulPassarelli]

Nailed it: "... propping up a dwindling user base..."

[@KD0CAC]

Hello Joe , maybe you should send them a bill for fixing / or helping to fix their product/s . Then another for helping them sell / retroactively ;)

[@gamingSlasher]

It should always be that you pay annually for updates and support to the software but if you dont the software should continue to work in its current state perpetually.

[@mika274]

Exactly

[@StephenHoldaway]

Yep, JetBrains does this with their IDEs and it's great - there's an annual charge that decreases each consecutive year, but that charge also gives you a perpetual license for the current version when you pay

[@ghinckley68]

The FTDI crippled the usb chippset drivers for usb to serial communications about that time frame. It just quitelly would not talk to the clones.

[@rjordans]

Getting more and more happy here with pyvisa and pyvisa-py. Was much less of a hassle to get running than the NI VISA library in Linux too!

[@andrebalsa203]

Joe, in a few words: time to move away from proprietary software and embrace the Open Source movement.

[@MegaKopfschmerzen]

What's the Open Source equivalent of Labview?

[@wktodd]

Borland -they had a buy once policy so if the media failed (floppy disks in those days) they would replace for the cost of media .

[@DerDermin8tor]

I created once an SMS Server with Labview which was able to stress network connections and Devices under load. A pitty that is to change good running products.

[@steveb855]

So what is the alternative to NI alluded to but never specified?

[@silverXnoise]

I’m not immediately against companies licensing software under a subscription model-when it’s appropriate. There are some alternative sales schemes aside from straight perpetual and subscriptions that I think are almost always more useful and fair to everyone involved, but as someone who dabbles in contributions to open source software projects, and benefits greatly from a wide variety of software both personally and professionally, I can certainly sympathize with many of the reasons for opting towards some variation of a subscription model. That said, a professional application of the kind of size, scope, and price of something like LabVIEW-along with the myriad ways its users may become reliant upon it, and heavily invested in it with things like hardware platforms and interfaces-and especially because of how much value to the platform is generated by the users themselves, this was a major dick move from NI. They easily could have spun off a subscription option without axing the standard licenses.

[@jamesaulgur4556]

I started using lab view when it first came out and quickly decided to abandon it because of NI's inability to solve any issue and charging me to tell them what was wrong with their software. I did continue using their cards and just made calls directly their drivers and DLLs for their cards with c++ and c#... Rockwell did the same deal with their software too.. And I decided to quit using Rockwell back in 2005 or there abouts. I told Rockwell I wanted to do the same with their com protocol cards that I was doing with NIs and they told me to go screw myself. So I approached Wago they had a line of field bus cards and wide variety of I/O to be used with them. They said sure no problem and so I used them until just recently thinking about retiring. These larger companies are filled with book smart paper pushers don't don't know a damn thing about their own products or the people using and integrating them. I have seen many changes in my over 40 year career some were good and some are absolutely horrible. I have learned if you can go and talk directly to the hardware directly you're better off,,, Just my thoughts and opinion from someone who has used this stuff for over the last 40 years...

[@technobubba4]

Sysphius would be proud of you. Enjoy your retirement !

[@ecoidea100]

I always thought it was a software for testing in the lab but not suitable for other uses due to the bugs, it seems now is going through the path of other mass softwares, soon you will need a passport id, it will start running on the cloud and with an AI assistant that will tell you what to do and it will upload a selfie every time you hit run.

[@guesswhotoo6]

We write everything in java and python. In a short time you build modules to reuse and can forget about Labview subscriptions.

[@makerspace533]

Looks like they are going back to the IBM model of the 1950's and 60's.

[@dreamcat4]

EEZ studio and the eez bb3 open test and measurement platform

[@fredknox2781]

Altium did this with Circuit Studio. I bought it, fully believing it was for a perpetual license, used it for a year or so, then had a break from circuit design. When I tried to use it again, it would not run, saying the license had expired!!! Still gets my blood pressure up. I switched to KiCad. Will never use an Altium product again, and will warn anyone against using any Altium product. Lesson: do not use any product that requires an Internet connection, such as cloud service. It just lets the supplier to have you by the neck.

[@picklerix6162]

I’m trying to get my boss to move to KiCad. We are currently using a product that uses a cloud service that went down again today so I left work early in disgust.

[@46I37]

I've used Altium since it was Autotrax 30 years ago. We have 5 perpetual licences and they just that. Perpetual. We went off subs for 5 years and they just kept working.

[@brbubba]

Moved to this model a year ago and renewed our subscriptions in time. Well they screwed up the renewal on half the systems, so now half our systems are bricks. Customer service still hasn't solved the issue. I hate this company. Their customer service is some of the worst in the industry.

[@prutser67]

It's a pity. The list of software packages used and regularly updated is decreasing. Everything which changes to a subscription model is a no-go for me. Had all my photo's in Adobe Lightroom, but after they changed the licensing model it was over.

[@profdc9501]

The incentive for innovation and improvement goes to zero after they change to a subscription model. They can effectively stop updating the software because you are stuck with them unless you make a huge effort to change. At least with selling the software outright to you, they need to improve it to entice you to buy the next version. Those that are making the decisions to license software on a subscription model generally will not be the ones who have to pay the price for that decision. Only down the line when there are accumulated costs, someone else is stuck holding the bag. So it is an easy choice for someone who does not need to be concerned about the eventual consequences of the decision. The software companies depend on this.

[@baconsledge]

Welcome to Autodesk style Hell!

[@AlJay0032]

Isn't there any good open source Linux alternative out there, you could use?

[@peteb2]

Wow, way back in the 80s i bumped into LabView & being young 'n passionate with such a technology environment i foolishly contacted the local agent in my country New Zealand. When i finished with the salesman i realized the new mortgage i had taken out with my then new wife on a house was just peanuts on what i'd need so i walked away. This didn't stop the saleman who virtually stalked me for 18 months trying to put me into so much debt & would not listen to the fact i was a single individual who 'did stuff in electronics' & not a monstrous Corporate. In the end i did a few things with a demo constrained LabView sample & then simply moved on. Over the years Joe i watched your KZbins & was just stunned at how you were achieving exactly what i needed (& needed to learn) but always was the amount of investment that i just could not reach. So now that i've just watched your video here & what has been happening that is so mixed up I am on one hand amazed i had dodged a bullet into what would have been a huge debt at the time but on the other i'm so kind of angry as to how you have been treated by the way they didn't really do a good job supporting you. Thanks so much though for all the KZbins you have done that surely peaked my thinking over the years.

[@michaelharrison1093]

Was that local agent called Rob Maskell?

[@rohitchaturvedi2271]

Any problem in the community edition for personal use ?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

That depends. I looked into it before attempting to update my home license and it would have required that the license be renewed. If something were to happen with NI, then it was game over. I am not willing to invest any time into a tool set that will expire. For you, maybe that isn't a problem. forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabVIEW-Community-Edition-Duration-of-license/td-p/4051516

[@fir3w4lk3r]

Is there any true alternative?

[@alexkram]

Yep, I always look for alternatives to software subscriptions. I don't rent my screwdrivers or toothbrushes, not going to rent my computer tools either.

[@WarrenPostma]

I still have nightmares about LabView. You should build your test tools in Delphi or C#

[@esepecesito]

Or whatever... as long is not labview :D

[@lapin46]

we did not subscribe and will use the current version for a few years. I agree it will be the beginning of the end for NI Labview use in academia besides a few projects that may afford it. I hear more and more project leads talking of Phyton. 25 years Labview user in science. For me personally it is tragic.

[@terenfro1975]

Worked 7 years on getting a grant to expand my classroom offering. $3,000,000 grant. Last year we purchased the equipment. This year we were updating the software. I just round out they want to charge us annually what we paid one time for software that lasted us 10 years. I'm now rolling back the use of NI in our labs and looking for replacement. Personally, I'm furious. They've burned us on 7 years of work that would create more customers for them.

[@gorak9000]

That's why you don't rely on proprietary software from scummy companies like NI. It's Open Source or hard NO for me

[@RiyadhElalami]

Yes exactly, if it isn't in open source right it out yourself. Also SCPI and python do everything. Writing is way better than graphical programming

[@nikmilosevic1696]

@@RiyadhElalami GUI programming tools still have their uses. I used Labwindows in the early 90s because although I could write hardware drivers and software for acquisition hardware I didnt know how to write graphics that would do live display and control of data, so I used the LabWindows libraries because I didnt have the time nor inclination to learn graphics programing. Similarly, LabView is an excellent tool for quickly creating Apps for proof of concept and one off tools, again without having to know and learn how to write complex tools you require to process, control and output your data. Its also used as a learning tool at universities, for engineering and science, because its a more time efficient way to teach algorithmic processes. Granted writing code is usually more efficient on computing resources, if written well.

[@vincei4252]

@@nikmilosevic1696 In the 80's and 90's raw GUI programming API's would make you lose the will to live. From what I see where I work thing haven't improved much; in fact it seems things are much worse and way more complex as they try to support the GUI's working over the web too. That's why I chose to be a hard backend engineer for the last 20 years. Just say no to GUI's.

[@nikmilosevic1696]

@@vincei4252 Oh I agree, like I said in the 80s/90s I coded myself and used LabWindows libraries with C, worked a treat to give a nice front end without killing computer resources. But last time I used LabView, and we still use it at Uni in Engineering for teaching and research, it works fairly well on modern computers for quick proof of concept and teaching use. Of course coded solutions are more efficient usually, but there are times when coding is time inefficient, especially when in early development and in some teaching scenarios. Reminds me, I shudder at the thought, how many 'engineers' blamed our hardware while using bloody QuickBasic and saying there is a performance issue with the hardware. Funny how the performance issues disappeared when I re-coded their Basic apps to C or Pascal.

[@nrdesign1991]

What LabVIEW really does well though is datalogging and graphing for weeks without interruption while staying modest on its resource use. Couldnt say the same about Python with Matplotlib which crashes after two days in the same application.

[@hyqhyp]

And this is why we have "free as in freedom."

[@ofgjf]

Isnt the free community version available anymore?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

That depends. I looked into it before attempting to update my home license and it would have required that the license be renewed. If something were to happen with NI, then it was game over. I am not willing to invest any time into a tool set that will expire. For you, maybe that isn't a problem. forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/LabVIEW-Community-Edition-Duration-of-license/td-p/4051516

[@64storun]

When they changed the licensing policy I said "farewell". We are the developers, not the slaves. Nothing is indispensable.

[@bob-ny6kn]

LabView was good to set up a base code, especially to help customers visualize their product. I never got to the advanced uses. Sad they aged.

[@8thsam]

SaaS has a place imo but not in my home lab

[@richardbrown2290]

Can you support any open source Lab view alternatives? Just asking. Thanks. Richard Brown Oh, Just a additional note: I stay in the Java world.. mostly business stuff. but I find this interesting. I NEVER use subscription software.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

I am not aware of any.

[@jennyminskey4086]

Hello, I have a high frequency noise in my home. What instrument can I use to locate where it is coming from?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Outside of possibly having a home built into a shielded RF enclosure, all homes will have some level of noise. You suggest the source is in the HF range. How do you know this? What ever you are using that is susceptible to the your noise may be able to be used to locate the source. I've seen posts from hams/CBers who hunted HF noise from failing pole pigs (transformers on the mains poles) with their radios then feed that information to their local utilities. In my house, I bought some cheap Chinese LED lights that create a lot of noise in the HF/VHF bands. Enough to where you can not use a broadcast AM radio or over the air TV with them on. In that cast, I can just turn on the radio and see if new lights cause any interference when they are turned on.

[@jennyminskey4086]

@@joesmith-je3tq I measured it on an app on my phone, but I cannot locate the direction. My in-laws own the place and are super controlling. I believe it may be a mosquito anti loitering device. If it is, it is hidden. Any recommended devices to find it?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

@@jennyminskey4086 Not having a cell phone of any sort, I am surprised they can measure the frequency. That's pretty slick. If the only effect is the cell phone app being able to pick it up, I would just ignore it.

[@jennyminskey4086]

@@joesmith-je3tq I can here it. Constantly. Is there a device I can use to locATE IT?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

@@jennyminskey4086 When someone tells me high frequency, I am thinking > 3MHz, not audio. If you are able to hear it, maybe use your ears.

[@wiedenn4521]

As a hardware company they could have made LabView Open Source, boosting hardware sales. and minimizing IDE dev costs.

[@stevebailey1682]

Hi Joe...wow, I have had my own disappointing experiences with Labview. I am a Computer Engineer by training and experience, but was forced to use Labview about 12 years ago and have been using it since...on numerous instrument designs. I hate to program with essentially a CAD like interface with no ability to zoom in and out. The only saving grace (for me) is we use their CompactRIO controllers which have an FPGA backplane. FPGA code in schematic like form is intuitive (for me). Like you, I have had my share of work-arounds for Labview interfaces that are broken...like their serial model interface. I remember at the time talking to a tech at NI and their response to the fix was to buy the next version...yikes. That is the last time we paid for "tech" support from NI. I just saw recently they are going to the subscription model. My guess is the company is in trouble and need more cash. At work, we are still using the 2015 version.

[@MarcoTedaldi]

Old time LabVIEW programmer here... If you feel the urge to zoom in or your either your screen is too small of your vi too big. That's my experience (and yes, I've made my fair share of mistakes). It's loke c programming: If your functions does not fit on a screen it's too big and you failed at modularizing it (I know, I'm oversimplyifying here a lot).

[@stevebailey1682]

@@MarcoTedaldi Hi Marco...thanks for your comments. It is not so much that I want to zoom out, but zoom in. Yes, a good solution is to have a gigantic monitor to work from...but often I am working from a laptop...where zooming in would really help. I just think it is ridiculous to give a program a CAD like interface without the ability to zoom.

[@bme7491]

Sounds like someone is a bit jaded. I used LabVIEW for over 20 years and always had a great technical support experience, and believe me, I called them hundreds of times over the years. And I was on many projects using LabVIEW (64 bit) software AND hardware including realtime, DAQ, and FPGA in PRODUCTION environments, not just for test bench or rapid prototyping efforts. One of the issues I found is that many developers were giving their customers/users the application and expecting them to run it in "development" mode. A terrible idea. I made it a point to always create an executable. This meant the project only needed to really maintain ONE development copy once in production mode.

[@oldbloke135]

As someone who first used LabView when you had to buy an Apple Mac to run it and used it regularly for maybe 30 years I can't say that any of this is surprising. I always had a feeling of "Love LabView, hate National Instruments." A brilliant engineer forty years ago gave birth to a beautiful baby and parasites have been squeezing every last drop of blood out of it ever since.

[@alanb76]

Better in the long run to saddle home projects on open software.

[@yugiohfanatic1964]

the problem is reinventing a work. Where do I work after 20 years of LV test engineer???

[@rftek]

Thank you for this video. I also don’t support this move (used to be a evangelist so it’s such a bitter pill) and now Actively push back any expansion. I don’t see Any advantage as a developer and only problems. They f’d up with NXG and focused on so many dumb ideas. If they had pulled off zoom/pan then it might be worth it :)