adjusting registry entries for installed software

[neuroman9999]

this might sound like a hacking attempt, and to some degree it is, but I've always wondered about this. What is the current accepted standard in the software community for storing in installation date and detecting the end of a trial period on any give machine in this world? I would assume it is still a process whereby the information is found in the windows registry? I would assume the internet and connection to it should be involved in this process for almost all software in this day in age, like it is with Microsoft products (office, etc...), but surprisingly I found that this is not the case for a lot of software that is not made by large companies.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Many methods exist. The Registry method is merely the most common. In making a product time-limited license, your imagination is the limit.

 

[neuroman9999]

The Registry method is merely the most common.

someone else told me that that's going by the wayside, in favor of a background service thread process whereby a countdown timer runs and continually points to server data or a stamp when connected to the internet. is that true?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Have not heard that. However, in the era of "Software as a Service" it would not surprise me.

 

[neuroman9999]

I hate that term. SAAS.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Not overly fond of it myself, but the idea of "leasing" has been around for centuries with respect to real estate; for many decades with respect to cars and trucks; and (even if not cloud-based) the yearly license fees for some products have been around for at least a decade or two. So now along comes cloud-based leasing. One might say it was inevitable.

 

[kevlray]

On a related note. Some of the US politicians believe that the government should own the land and citizens can 'lease' the land from them.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I prefer the Native American viewpoint. NOBODY owns any land except that part on which you stand, only for the amount of time that you stand there. Of course, that only works for migratory hunter-gatherer societies.

 

[neuroman9999]

On a related note. Some of the US politicians believe that the government should own the land and citizens can 'lease' the land from them.

NO WAY! that's just stupid. that's classic government thinking! LOL. hey Richard, I think you used bad grammar again. CLOUD instead of CLOUD? you might want to check what fingers are pressing what keys!

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I'm sorry but I don't understand your objection. Look at what you posted. Did the spell-checker get you, Adam?

If you are trying to push buttons, understand that I am not buying into your methods. You are hovering just below the level of "serious disrespect." Continually looking for grammatical errors and word misuse is a sign of disrespect and a sign of someone with nothing better to do. Whereas at the moment, I have a lot to do that consumes my time including managing my wife's twice-daily at-home infusion therapy. Go bother someone else with your button-pushing.

 

[neuroman9999]

hey you evil man! you changed it. nice try, but you can't outsmart me, and you know it. don't even try to compare my intelligence level with yours, grandpa. =)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

First, I did not change it. I cannot promise that someone else didn't. But Adam, remember - just because you aren't paranoid doesn't mean everyone else isn't out to get you.

Second, you have crossed another line of disrespect. You had a time out issued by someone else. I didn't do that . Someone else in another thread took credit for that little time-out. But I just gave you another week to think about your disrespectful ways. I will avoid making any argumentative statement for this. No insults. Just a hard fact. You were specifically warned that disrespect would earn a ban. You were disrespectful. You got banned. Cause and effect.

Third, you will probably say that your grinning pseudo-emoji of =) is yet another attempt to say "I was only joking" but you appear to have not yet gotten the message. And if you continually don't get the message, this kind of short-term ban will also continue. Adam, if you felt the need to make that little emoji as some kind of pseudo-apology ahead of time, perhaps you need to ponder this point: If you needed to indicate it wasn't for real, then perhaps you should not have said it in the first place.

Finally, if you want to use a poor man's emoji, that is OK by me. But did you not realize that we have a really nice list of graphic emojis that you could have chosen?

 

[Vassago]

Does anyone actually own any land within the US? No, not really. They can still tell you what you are allowed to do with it.

I used to be a fan of owning physical copies of all my media and was very against digital versions. I've become more open to digital with the release of the PS4. The truth is, you don't own any of the software anyway, only the right to use it. Of you can get software cheaper by paying installments and guarantee upgrades as you go, I don't see a problem with it.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

As always, it depends on your business circumstance. For me, a fixed license that has no continuing cost overhead is better because I am retired. I get to choose if/when I will upgrade and don't have a continuing drain on my retirement.

But if I were still gainfully employed and in the business of Access consulting, my business model would be different.

And it's a fine point, but yes in the USA we DO own land. There is a "takings" principle that says that the government must compensate me before they do anything with my land and I can fight it if I wish. That wouldn't be possible unless we really DID own the land. Actually, right now I have two properties I inherited from my parents that I wish WOULD be the target of an eminent domain. I would only hold out for a little better deal and then agree. Damned things are useless to me and require property taxes every year, albeit less than $10 per property.

 

[Vassago]

As always, it depends on your business circumstance. For me, a fixed license that has no continuing cost overhead is better because I am retired. I get to choose if/when I will upgrade and don't have a continuing drain on my retirement.

But if I were still gainfully employed and in the business of Access consulting, my business model would be different.

And it's a fine point, but yes in the USA we DO own land. There is a "takings" principle that says that the government must compensate me before they do anything with my land and I can fight it if I wish. That wouldn't be possible unless we really DID own the land. Actually, right now I have two properties I inherited from my parents that I wish WOULD be the target of an eminent domain. I would only hold out for a little better deal and then agree. Damned things are useless to me and require property taxes every year, albeit less than $10 per property.

Paying for "your" land every year. Isn't it grand?

And you still can't decide to turn it into a shop, or track, or farm, or anything you want without permission. It's insane.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

It's a LONG story, V. Essentially, my grandmother snapped up land during the 1930s depression when you could obtain land due to tax arrears. All but one piece of her haul has now been sold. But you know what they say about land: Location, location, location - and this last parcel of her land is deficient in all three particulars. It's in a failed subdivision with surrounding marshy ground and no particular utilities that I know of. The other piece comes from my mother's estate and it is two states away on a corner of my uncle's property. It was going to be a place to put up a house trailer in the summer, but then Dad had a heart attack, which put everything on hold. Now I can't get rid of either property.