Re: Opinions: Warn about online registration checks?

JT wrote:
[...]
As for the repeated tries, it would happen once per session of the
application (at startup).

I do understand that. My point is that as a computer user, I have no interest in having some software I'm using attempt to access the network, never mind the Internet, unless I have specifically told it to.

That's not to say automatically accessing the Internet isn't appropriate in some cases. Some programs allow the user to enable a "check for update automatically" feature. Other programs are specifically about network access, and so the simple act of running the program is sufficient indication from the user that network access is desired.

But nothing about your description so far suggests the behavior you're asking about falls into those scenarios.

It would only happen if there was not
already a local copy of the registration code, meaning the application
had not been registered yet or the code was removed from the storage
location.

I understand that. But I don't think it's appropriate for the application to check a central registry every time it boots, even if it's not registered.

If there's some advantage to checking that registry, the user will be motivated to explicitly tell the program to do so at the appropriate time. There's no need for the program to make that attempt automatically when the software is started, and there are various usability and privacy issues associated with doing so that are violated when your program makes that automatic access.

Opinions do vary, and I hope others who have some will weigh in with their own thoughts. Then you can judge for yourself which philosophy has more merit with respect to your own ideas and goals.

To sum up my own philosophy: software should only do what I tell it to. Automatic behaviors themselves should only be enabled inasmuch as either the software simply doesn't make sense without them, or inasmuch as I the user can control whether they happen. This is true generally, and it is especially true when dealing with features that involve the software interacting with entities outside of my control (such as a centralized registration database).

Pete
.

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