I haven't been on SE for that long so I don't know.
How long does a site normally stay in beta? Are there certain conditions that need to be met before the site can progress past beta?
Area 51 says this site has been in beta for 278. Is that a normal amount of time?
This blog post addresses your question. Basically we stay in beta until we are deemed "viable."
Our ratings as of 9/3/12:
4.1 questions per day Needs Work – 15 questions per day on average is a healthy beta, 5 questions or fewer per day needs some work. A healthy site generates lots of good content to make sure users keep coming back.
93% answered Excellent – 90% answered is a healthy beta, 80% answered needs some work. In the beta it's especially important that when new visitors ask questions they usually get a good answer.
195 avid users; 1,942 total users Excellent – Every site needs a solid group of core users to assist in moderating the site. We recommend: 150 users with 200+ rep (currently 195 users with 200+ rep) 10 users with 2,000+ rep (currently 16 users with 2,000+ rep) 5 users with 3,000+ rep (currently 7 users with 3,000+ rep)
1.7 answer ratio Okay – 2.5 answers per question is good, only 1 answer per question needs some work. In a healthy site, questions receive multiple answers and the best answer is voted to the top.
2,670 visits/day Excellent – 1,500 visits per day is good, 500 visits per day needs some work. A great site benefits people outside the community. Eventually, 90% of a site's traffic should come from search engines.
A number of betas have been waiting longer than we have!
