How MacKichan Software Licenses Software
Because of the variety of needs of our customers around the world,
MacKichan Software offers a variety of licensing options. For this purpose, our products
have used FlexLM®,
a product of Globetrotter Software, since we released Version 3.5 of Scientific WorkPlace,
Scientific Word, and Scientific Notebook.
Types of licenses
- Fixed licenses. The MacKichan Software
End User License Agreement for a fixed license allows the user to install
the software either:
- On one computer which multiple people can use, as in a computer lab
or
- On a single user's personal computers. An individual is allowed to install
and use the software at home, at work, and on a laptop, as long as he is the
only person using the software.
These two cases are mutually exclusive. Read or print our End User License
Agreement.
- Floating licenses. A floating license
(sometimes called a network or concurrent license) can be used by any number
of people on any number of computers, but it may be used on only one
computer at a time. That is, if you have five floating licenses, then
anybody can use the software, but only five can use it at the same time.
(Floating licenses are managed by software running on a Windows® server,
which means that the computers on which the software is used must be connected
by a network.) Since floating licenses are useful to more people and are
expected to be used more intensively than fixed licenses, they cost more. Read or print a sample Floating
License Agreement.
- Unlimited campus-wide site licenses.
Academic institutions can buy unlimited site licenses, which are essentially
an unlimited number of floating licenses. The license is managed by software
running on one or more servers, and the license agreement says that these
servers can be accessed only by those connected to the institution, such
as students, faculty, and staff. Members of the institution can run the
programs at home, provided that they are able to connect to the institution's
servers. The price of an unlimited site license is based on the size of
the institution as measured by the total enrollment (undergraduate and graduate).
The number of those students who will use the product is not a factor in
the pricing of the site license. If only one or two departments will use
the license, purchasing multiple floating licenses is usually more economical
than purchasing a site license. Read or print a sample Site
License Agreement.
- Time-limited licenses. All licenses---fixed,
floating, and site licenses---are available at a reduced price for the period
of a semester or a year. This allows the economical purchase of licenses
for a computer lab for a course based on Scientific Notebook, for example.
Obtaining a software license
When freshly installed, each of our products---Scientific
WorkPlace, Scientific Word, and Scientific Notebook---has only the capabilities
of our free browser, Scientific Viewer. For full
product functionality, the user must register the software and install a license
file.
The user of a floating
or site license will be given a license file by the license administrator.
The user of a fixed license must obtain
a license file specific to his computer. The easiest way to obtain a license
is on the web. It takes only a few seconds.
