@gruber @matt you can placate us pretty easily by just offering a one-off lifetime purchase option (alongside subscriptions) at a price that you've calculated to match the average subscription lifespan (probably 2-3 years).
People who are actually serious about not wanting to pay rent for software (and not just cheap-asses) will happily pay a one-off fee of $50-75 for a quality app, and even if that's only a tiny %, it gives you something you can point at to shut up the others.