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Old 23rd January 2011, 18:28   #99  |  Link
mariush
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 589
re: folder in 8.3 notation, see:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...=VS.85%29.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/libr...=VS.85%29.aspx

Feeding a long path to these functions won't do any harm, so no matter what path you'd give them, you'd receive the long nice path in return.

re slow load: you can't ask users to disable the antivirus software to load the app fast, and considering most users will have some sort of antivirus installed you should work around it, not users around your app.

re theme: i completely understand but as I said... consistency and everything

re license : if you aim to make the zip version "portable" then it shouldn't touch the disk in any location other than the default temporary folder specified by the operating system. Users who don't wish to "install" something obviously don't want to create files in various locations (application data for example) or may not have the rights to create files there.

It should also not prohibit me from running the application again.. for example I start application, I see the license but I'm too tired today and I want to read the license tomorrow and understand it so I cancel the process and I see tomorrow that I'm no longer able to use the application because it saved the "no" answer in an .ini file somewhere on the disk without letting me know.

re license text: it's either full text or nothing - the full text is not required but it should either be a link to the license or the full license shown, not just a couple of paragraphs - user may understand by those paragraphs that those paragraphs are the full license and ignore the other terms of the license describe further, making it void.

A simple license.txt in the ZIP file would be actually enough, I believe. Virtualdub loads the full license text in a window using a text area with vertical scroll and only an OK button, then lets user decide if he wants to continue using the application or not, as there's no requirement for a user to accept the license (by continuing to use the software, it's an implied acceptance of the license) :

from the GPL 2.0 license text:
Quote:
5. You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the
Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it.
The GPL 2 license, as far as I understand reading it, does not prohibit user from running the application. It only prohibits user from modifying and re-distributing it when certain conditions aren't met. Running application is neither modifying or re-distribution. So refusing user to run the application is silly if not above what the license requires.
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