Trial period needs net connection

[chrisd]

I've recently downloaded a trial version of Backyard EOS (the latest one, 3.2 I think). I have however a criticism of this trial which perhaps the makers haven't thought of. The trial version cannot be opened unless my laptop is connected to the internet, in order to "validate" my account identity. Since I need to obviously be outdoors with my telescope, camera and laptop, this means trying to access the internet-router remotely. I live in England, in a property with stone-walls that are over eighteen inches thick; it is just not possible to wifi through thick walls; and neither is it practical to run a forty-foot long USB cable from the laptop to the dining-room where my main computer and router live. I don't use smartphones either, so tethering isn't an option.

Could not the trial version have been built simply by encoding with a 30-day timeout facility, rather than the online validation requirement? My laptop was purchased second-hand solely for the purpose of astrophotography, it wasn't planned for connecting it to the internet....I tend to download programs to my main PC and then transfer them to the laptop.

As things are, I now have to connect it to online, in order to validate, to open the program.....and then take the laptop outdoors. If the program should happen to close out, I then have to repeat the whole thing again. I hope this is not a feature of the full-paid program because if it is, I won't be buying.

[admin]

I make no excuse for this, it is by design and I can assure it was thought of.  

30-day with time out facility without internet... NO!  You can thank all those that were changing their computer date to circumvent this... as a result the time check is done against the server each time.

Trial keys need Internet.

Purchase keys do not require internet.

As an alternative you can start BYE in your house before going outside.

 

[chrisd]

I would never even contemplate fiddling the computer date. Have never experienced any software that requires this for a 30 day trial. Oh well, there it is.

[astroman133]

chrisd,

Blame the cheaters who forced the BYE developers to take this step to protect their intellectual property.

The purpose for the 30-day trial is to give you a chance to make sure that it can control your camera as you expect, and to verify that the program works as advertised for the features that you intend to use. The vast majority of the features can be tested during the day while you are at home, in the house at the kitchen table. This will give you enough information to decide whether BYE has a place in your imaging toolkit.

Once you purchase a permanent license the software will no longer use the Internet for license validation.

[dkerber]

2 hours ago, chrisd said:

I would never even contemplate fiddling the computer date. Have never experienced any software that requires this for a 30 day trial. Oh well, there it is.

I understand your concern, but have to side with the developers on this. An easy workaround is to start BYE when you are connected to the internet, and then carry it outside and finish the connections.