Date stamp a stack

[Bill Marriott]

Hi Jacqui,

> Zygodact [...] does not handle trial date expirations automatically. [...] 
> The Zygodact manual has suggestions on how to manage that, but any of the 
> ways discussed on the list will work as well.

Aha, I missed that detail! But perhaps you're a little modest. The 
documentation provides complete sample scripts for handling trial periods 
via a hidden stack, and re-registration of the software once a full code is 
obtained... I haven't implemented Zygodact yet, but it was such a thorough 
coverage of the issue that in my memory it was recorded as support for it 
:))

> I've considered adding trial date tracking to Zygodact, but I have mixed 
> feelings about it. There are some reasons it probably should not be 
> implemented, and should be left to the software author instead.

Yes, there are a variety of schemes for trials, and not all of them are 
time-limited. Some publishers offer a limited number of program launches 
before a trial ends, instead of a specific timeframe, for example.

Since Zygodact generates the activation codes, I think it would be a handy, 
optional feature to bake an encoded expiry date into trial codes, ala 
Revolution trials. The developer can't really customize that aspect of the 
system, right? Hm, maybe if they appended an encoded date before/after/into 
the code generated by Zygodact?

Anyway, codes with embedded expiry dates is probably a more foolproof way to 
ensure people don't abuse trials. A weakness of the hidden stack/file 
approach is that a user can simply find that file and delete it to 
reactivate a trial. This way, they have to request a new key to keep a trial 
going. Not perfect, but you could at least see when emails keep coming in 
from the same IP address, mail server, etc. (Without the kind of "phone 
home" activation most users find offensive, you can't really do anything 
about determined trial abusers.)

- Bill

p.s.: congrats on a great new revSelect product!