I have for quite some time thought the same as what David suspected above. The Alpha 2 network is a pretty big misrepresentation of what the end goal is and what we are actually quite close to. It definitely served its purpose for proving the technology that was current at that time and allowed some apps to be showcased, spawned the browser etc. but I have seen some misinterpret the invite system and the fact it is hosted on servers etc. Again was great for a long time but ever since this massive push I think it would be good to focus on hyping up the true vision of SAFE, the upcoming Fleming release, vaults from home with sharp and easy to use UI/UX, SAFE Network App, test Safecoin, community apps that start popping up. I thinks it’s pretty amazing how clear the consensus is on this 
Have to keep in mind that the new data types and changes to mutable data from Alpha 2 to now mean that apps will need a bit of restructuring and a lot of developing can be done using mock networks local to developers.
Something that comes to mind is if the alpha 2 network could be important to test for example how node age works on a larger scale, splits, routing and so on. I don’t have the knowlege as you do Neo, maybe there is no need for such tests on the alpha 2.
Alpha 2 does not have updates and node aging is not in it. Since it is not updated then it does not have the ability to input information to the current programming.
I think the 82 votes and 100% to kill it says it all.
I believe now we have shared vaults we can do many things and alpha-2 is just old and clunky!
I’am with you on that one, my thoughts was maybe more kind of if the server cloud would be needed for tests. But you convinced me to vote for closing alpha 2. 
Also if needed a testnet can be run up again. But we will be running vaults at home so the test net only needs a few servers rather then the number they had
Obviously late to the party here, but yes kill it, for reasons elicited in this thread and for the wisdom of crowds… where a 100% vote is nothing to be trifled with.
For development, the home vault with mock network is already better as the apis etc are newer. I personally have had to argue with potential converts that SAFE “someday will be actually decentralized” whereas they thought it was essentially a scam seeing as how it was web hosted. Wrong message all round.
I think a simple page saying
- What Alpha 2 was and what was learned from it.
- A link to information on how to develop for the coming Fleming test (e.g. the best way to participate in the network at the present time)
- etc.
would suffice better than the current network.
Don’t have a strong desire to keep it, but I’ve found it useful even to this point for building using the old FFI API, which I understand will be very similar on Fleming, notwithstanding the changes in Data Types.
Am I right in thinking that FFI APIs are the only way to build an app in something other than Rust, and that the new ones are on their way? Or is CLI intended to take that place?
Slightly confused that I seem to be the only one seeing the similarity rather than the difference, so maybe I’m missing something.
In any case though, quite happy to see Alpha 2 die. Maybe the 3K a month could be used to employ someone dedicated to answering my stupid questions!
David, there will be differences (a lot just now!) but in time those will reduce. Fleming is already almost good enough, and more of the API will be exposed soon, so not a problem IMO.
If we release Fleming in the next week or two then it won’t matter right. 
Thanks Mark,
Not thinking its a problem as such, just looking for a bit of clarity I suppose.
Would I find the functions I can use, say with Javascript, on Github? When you say ‘Fleming is almost good enough’ that’s what gets me confused. As far as I’ve seen, there’s nothing been announced that I can use to build a Javascript app.
True, but what I’m thinking is that it would be nice to work on apps so that they can be released quickly after Fleming, in the hope that it will encourage others to build apps as well.
I never thought you could get 100% of 90 people to ever agree on anything!
It hasn’t been announced and there’s no documentation, but I’ve used it to create Solid Filemanager. What’s there today includes connecting to the network, container and file access, and file upload (although I haven’t got upload working yet).
Some info in this topic on the Dev forum:
Brilliant, thanks Mark, that answers a lot of questions!
This poll itself suggests otherwise. If in next 2 weeks then it would just be done.
Almost an impossible feat, but here we are 
I almost clicked No. Because I still advertise Alpha 2 … But I thought about it and I thought people didn’t know what Alpha 2 was and I could release a manual for the local vault and call it Alpha 2… 
Is it evil? Perhaps. Does it hurt anyone? No 
The Alpha-2 network has now been taken offline.
Thanks to all who contributed for helping us make this decision, and a huge thanks to all who contributed to the Alpha-2 network over the last 2 years.
Onwards and upwards!