Guides
What survives if the vendor disappears?
A local program may outlive a hosted service. That does not prove you can sign in, sync, reinstall, or recover it later.
Scope: a concise editorial field note, not a universal recommendation, security audit, or guarantee.
Test a fresh offline start
Disable the network, stop the application fully, and start again. Open an existing document, create and save a new one, quit the application, and reopen both without signing in.
Blender and Krita say official builds need no registration or internet for core use. That evidence does not cover every add-on or project.
Separate program from service
Record what works locally and what needs hosted identity, storage, sync, or processing. Losing sync differs from losing local work.
Free software gives you the right to use, study, change, copy, and redistribute the program. It does not promise a maintainer, packaged builds, a hosted service, or a working build years from now.
Keep a recovery path
Where the license permits it, keep the installer or package, version and platform details, required license information, and tested data.
Test this on a spare environment. If installation or authentication still needs the operator, document that dependency.
Practical checklist
- Cold-start without a network.
- List every hosted dependency.
- Keep installation material where the license allows it.
- Test reinstall and recovery separately.
Sources checked
These first-party or authoritative sources ground the note. Checked 2026-08-14.