Bert,
(with a cc to the community)
May still be part of the software - I would not know since I would not sign
the new agreement to be able to test it.
Nevertheless, the contract language may prohibit such work. I am not clear
about it and will wait until I have something in writing from them. For
the moment, I am noting the issues with their new license for the awareness
of the community.
One more point I made to them on the phone is this: their choice to add
the editor to the upscale version of their release. While I am perturbed
by that fact (what other _multi_thousand_dollar software do you know where
only notepad is available as an editor?), I will point out that there are
good free products out there that will speak to SPLUS. Crimson Editor is
free and
- is syntax sensitive for both SPLUS and R (as well as Java, C++,
Perl,....... you name it)
- is better than the VBA editor in many ways, and
- can be programmed with a hot key combination to execute scripts directly
into SPLUS (see archived messages)
Regards,
Yannis Tzamouranis
|---------+---------------------------->
| | "Bert Jacobs" |
| | <b.jacobs@pandora|
| | .be> |
| | |
| | 07/12/2005 10:21 |
| | AM |
| | |
|---------+---------------------------->
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
|
| To: <TzamouranisY@LouisDreyfus.com>
|
| cc:
|
| Subject: RE: [S] Concerns about SPLUS version 7
|
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Dear,
What do you mean by the statement below? Are automations Excel - S-Plus
still possible with the new version or not?
"- 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."
Thx for your answer,
-----Original Message-----
From: s-news-owner@lists.biostat.wustl.edu
[mailto:s-news-owner@lists.biostat.wustl.edu] On Behalf Of
TzamouranisY@LouisDreyfus.com
Sent: 12 July 2005 16:00
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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