Safe to use vB: 3.8.2? [Expired license question]

Hey,

I just realised that I have another vB license that expired in 2009. (I've had this license since 2006; wow!) I created SO many support tickets in 2006, haha!

Anyway, down to my question:

Is it safe to use 3.8.2? The latest STABLE version of vBulletin is: 3.8.7 Patch Level 3 and vBulletin recently released vB 3.8.8 BETA.

Side rant:
Oh boy, do I miss the days where I could pay $60 for a year of upgrades.

I actually have 2 expired vB licenses and would gladly pay $60 for all the upgrades to the latest version of vBulletin 4. (They can keep vB5, lol) There is no way in hell I'm paying $209 for upgrades; especially if the main bulk of that cost is vBulletin 5.

 

If you're asking that question, the answer has to be no.

 

I would say yes if..
you lock down admincp / modcp
mod security the box

 

Wait, there's a 3.8.8 Beta?

 

No, e 3.8.2 expired version is not safe to use. Avoid to use it.

 

yup
http://admin-talk.com/threads/43284/

and to the OP, no I would not suggest using an old version, you'll be prone to exploits.
I would go with the latest 3.8.x

 

Would not use 3.8.2 either. But with 3.8.8 on the horizon I would keep an eye out if any special deals get offered.

 

I guess I have a license that is unusable. It would be interesting if they sold vBulletin 3/4 separate to vBulletin 5. I would pay $100 for that. And, if vBulletin 5 were to catch my eye, I'd pay for it, but right now, it doesn't appear to be worth it.

Hopefully the deals that may come out won't be too expensive! *hint* @BirdOPrey5 *hint*

 

That would be nice

 

I am surprised everyone is dogging the 3.8 series. If you look at almost all the major media companies buying sites, most of those sites are vB3.8.x
Heck, my whole auto network I sold was vB3

So then I got to thinking.. what about those media companies????

I went over to Verticalscope and checked out 1 page from their auto forums, 67 links total. I checked all.
61 vb3
5 vb4
1 unknown (got tired of waiting for the bajlillion ad placements to load.....

But what about IB? So then I started opening links. Their sites loaded far faster than VS which was nice
Quick look
45 vB3
1 vb4
1 IPB

But perhaps they run old versions because they are too consumed with other things to ugprade. Or perhaps all the other / previous site admins just existed and migrated into vB3 and that was when they all sold out and thats when evolution ceased to continue....

I would like to think that vB3 is ok, heck, decent if your server is locked down and you take some measures to protect your sites and data. And backups!

I would also like to think that any large media company would be the ones to follow as you would hope they were at the edge of new techology and what would be best for their investments which are similar to our investments. I would think that IB would be jumping to vB4 if it was the way.

0 sites i seen were xF during my quick glance.

I like vB3. It is still workable but not as sleek as xF. But xF lacks tools.

 

For a site that's already on vB 3.something, it's obviously a good strategy to stay with it. Especially so if you, or someone on your staff, has the skills to keep it updated, plug holes that vB's devs aren't plugging, and so on.

However, if you're starting a new forum it's a totally different perspective that you should be taking. There's no sense in starting out with software that is already outdated, and you're not going to be able to even use the latest of the vB 3.8 series.

If you're thinking about pay $100 to update it, or whatever it's really going to cost, why not just put that money toward a forum software that's got a future? There are no advantages to using vB 3.8.2, only disadvantages.