thanks for replying.
partly it's a matter of excessive complexity. as i said, a lifetime license should exempt one from periodic checking. i mean, what is there to check? it's not as though i can ever be in a situation where i owe roon more money.
moreover, if i were to go the roon hardware route, i have to run an ethernet cable from my router to the location of my audio system. why? if roon runs wirelessly on my mac, why should custom hardware require a hard connection?
i find roon's inflexibility with regard to these matters just irritating (the forum entry you provided is a perfect example of this attitude.) it discourages me from further investment in roon-specific hardware.