I wanted to take a moment to clarify some of the points from Yannis
Tzamouranis's post below. As those who have upgraded to S-PLUS 7 will know,
we switched license management software to the industry-standard FlexLM for
all editions of S-PLUS. While license-management is a pain for individual
users, our commercial customers were pressing for this change to make it
easier to manage their investment in our software. We tried to make the
license management process as simple as possible, especially for individuals,
but there have unfortunately been some problems here and there, both
technical and procedural. I just wanted to say at the outset that we're
hearing your responses loud and clear -- with regard to laptop and home
usage, use of Terminal Services, license manager installation, academic
usage, and other issues -- and we're taking steps to address the technical
issues, improve our processes, and ensure that S-PLUS is licensed in
accordance with the needs of its users.
That said, let me address the specific issues Yannis raises below:
* Regarding point 1, a colleague *can* use S-PLUS on your desktop when you're
not using it. As described below, other employees of a company-owned S-PLUS
license are also authorized users under the license.
* Regarding point 2, when a commercial entity purchases S-PLUS, all employees
are entitled to use the software under the terms of the license. The part of
the license agreement "Any such agent or contractor MUST AGREE IN WRITING to
be bound by such terms, for the benefit of Insightful" applies only
non-employees (agents and contractors). I am told this is clear to one
fluent in lawyer-ese (if not to non-lawyers like myself!).
* Regarding point 3, nothing has changed from previous versions of S-PLUS.
If you're accessing S-PLUS through Excel on your own desktop, that's fine.
(We even provide a built-in example of accessing S-PLUS through
COM/Automation -- the Excel S-PLUS add-in.) But if you're making S-PLUS
available to others who wouldn't normally be able to run S-PLUS themselves --
whether through a Web page or through a custom Excel spreadsheet -- a license
other than the standard desktop license is required.
* Regarding point 4, S-PLUS 7 still has the ability to run batch jobs. (In
fact, the Windows version has an applicaton in the Start menu to help you
launch them.) Manually launching a long computation (like a simulation) as a
batch job while you wait for S-PLUS to complete is perfectly fine. On the
other hand, automated batch jobs (such as via regular cron jobs, where there
is no active user) require a server-based license -- I suspect this is where
the confusion arose.
One other comment to wrap up: I'm painfully aware that this detailed
discussion of license agreements and management is at complete odds with what
S-PLUS is actually *for* -- statistical analysis. I'm sure like everyone
else out there, I wish we didn't have to worry about it. But as a commercial
company in a competitive environment that depends on license revenue to
continue to be able to improve S-PLUS, it's one of those necessary evils.
And as I mentioned earlier, we're working to fix the problems that have been
raised so that, insofar as is possible, you won't *have* to worry about it
unduly. If you, like Yannis, are having technical difficulties please
contact Insightful Technical Support (support@insightful.com). Also, if you
have other general comments or feedback about the licensing, please contact
me personally.
# David Smith
--
David M Smith <dsmith@insightful.com>
Senior Product Manager, Insightful Corp, Seattle WA
Tel: +1 (206) 802 2360
Fax: +1 (206) 283 6310
New S-PLUS 7! Create advanced statistical applications with large data sets.
www.insightful.com/splus
-----Original Message-----
From: TzamouranisY@LouisDreyfus.com
[mailto:TzamouranisY@LouisDreyfus.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2005 7:00 AM
To: s-news@lists.biostat.wustl.edu
Subject: [S] Concerns about SPLUS version 7
I have recently voiced some concerns to Insightful about the new licensing
agreement that a user explicitly agrees to when (s)he installs the
software. I am a long-time user of the product who has off-and-on had to
ask "why not go with R"? I have typically opted for SPLUS but in
considering the move from 6.1 to 7.0, I found myself having strengthened
concerns based on what is listed below. My wish is either for suggestions
for creative workarounds consistent with the new contract or for user
comments that may move the company from its position.
1. According to the new licensing scheme, a colleague cannot use the
product on my machine while I am not using it. I was on vacation for a
week or so and had a colleague run my models for the daily reports (on
6.2). Acorrding to what Insightful tells me in response to a query on
this, this would be illegal under the new contract ! Their claim is that
the new product is tied down to ONE person and ONE machine.
2. Other users would have to _agree in writing_ to use the product.
Insightful tells me that they would not, although I do not see how this
could be from the relevant language (included at the end). That being said,
point 1 seems to override point 2 - so I am baffled.
3. By the definition of a session, the agreement prohibits the following:
- Excel launching a session of SPLUS through the OLE interactivity
described in versions 6.x. This is one of the most serious shortcomings
for financial environments where most companies use Excel. If SPLUS is to
break into that area, Excel interactivity should be supported, not
eliminated by contract language.
- A html document doing the same. Although of lesser interest, and my
concern clearly not being in creating web-interfaces to SPLUS for the WWW,
I would like to be able to create a report with automated links to SPLUS,
one that colleagues could see every morning. While such 'users' would not
have access to SPLUS interactively, they would be able to change some
parameters on the web page (e.g. grouping criteria or length of history or
size of a time series window) to be able to view the report in a more
customized way.
4. The new license has removed the ability from the basic package to run
batch jobs. Version 6.x had this facility. Under the new scheme, if I
wanted to prepare an early morning report, I'd have to come in earlier -
another reason to move some of the functionality to Excel or R or ...
Relevant contract language:
"Authorized User: An employee, authorized agent or contractor of Licensee
who uses the Software solely in connection with the business activities of
the Licensee and who is aware of these terms and the terms of the Packing
List and who is bound by such terms. Any such agent or contractor MUST
AGREE IN WRITING to be bound by such terms, for the benefit of Insightful.
"
"(d) Sessions. Except as permitted under a Production Server License or
Production Session License, no license is granted for any Authorized User
to initiate a Session by any means other than direct human interaction
between the licensed Authorized User and the Software. This includes, but
is not limited to, initiating a Session via a Web page or other Web-based
interface; launching batch-mode Sessions with automated schedulers such as
"cron"; and initiation of Sessions by remote third-party client/server
applications."
I hope that Insightful will change some of its contract language. For the
moment, having had their confirmation on my points above, I refrain from
switching to version 7.0 as I see it as a serious step down in my case.
Regards,
Yannis Tzamouranis
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