[APBeta] Expiration dates

[RPEHLM]

Hi folks,

I know this is going to annoy folks but I really feel this needs to be said:

      Betas are for TESTING and should never ever be used or relied on 
for 'real' work.  Features and come and go or be completly redesigned as 
the developer (in our case Paul) requires.  The developer needs this 
freedom to move the product in whatever direction they feel is "right".  
The developer cannot and must not feel constrained to produce a 
completly functional and backwards compatible Beta release if this is 
not warrented for the development process.

Removing the hard expiry limit is extremely dangerous in terms of having 
a mixed Beta environment (and is a god-send to warez sites).  Users can 
build-up an auotmated response to nag screens that eventually makes them 
a minor irritation.  In our particular case v1 works just fine alongside 
v2 and should be used for all 'real world' work.  Having said that it is 
quite OK to use v2 in a real working environment, in fact it is probably 
a good idea for several reasons, however it must not be relied on.

Right, now where is my Kevlar vest and fireproof underpants!

Robin



Paul Rodman wrote:
> As I've mentioned before, the principal reason for this is to make 
> sure you don't report errors that have long since been fixed. Also, 
> upon release, I want all betas to disappear so that when someone tells 
> me the app does something wrong, I can be sure it's not an old beta.
>
> I have changed the app so that it continues after displaying the 
> "expired" message.
>
> Paul R.
>
> On Jun 15, 2009, at 5:42 PM, CER wrote:
>
>> Hi Paul,
>> I too would appreciate this.
>>
>> Be as annoying as you like. [is it really necessary at all if one is 
>> registered?]
>> Thanks,
>> Chris
>>
>>
>> Paul Rodman wrote:
>>>
>>> Yeh, I can do that. As long as it's reasonably irritating, it will
>>> eventually have the desired effect...
>>> Paul R.
>>>
>>> On Jun 15, 2009, at 4:00 PM, Michael Conte wrote:
>>>
>>> > Would it be too much of an issue to have AP just not quit running
>>> > when the
>>> > expiration date for the beta version is reached? Just leave a nag
>>> > message
>>> > running for x number of seconds and then let AP continue to load?
>>> >
>>> > Reason for asking is we had our first nearly clear night in awhile
>>> > and I
>>> > hauled the laptop out to the telescope, got everything fired up and
>>> > went to
>>> > load AP and got the message. Luckily I did have a very weak but
>>> > connectable
>>> > wifi connection so I was able to download the latest beta version
>>> > but I
>>> > could see where if I was REALLY out in the field and if I had failed
>>> > to
>>> > check the expiration date for that version prior to leaving, it
>>> > could cause
>>> > me a fair amount of grief.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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