Software licensing

Volume licenses provide the right for persons affiliated with the School of Computer Science to use software. That right is revoked upon termination of affiliation for any reason. A few companies provide ways for individuals to obtain permanent rights to use the software upon termination. Most volume licenses provide "right to use" and, in some cases, "installation privileges" for active faculty, staff, and students of the School of Computer Science. The software cannot be used by or given to others.

None of the licenses held by the School of Computer Science permits the commercial or for-profit use of the applications. Some of the licenses restrict use of the software to instructional purposes.

Obtaining software

How to get:

• Macintosh software
• Unix/Linux software
• Windows software

Note: In many cases, a host is only eligible to have an application installed on it if the host is receiving Facilities software licensing and software support services (see our documentation on support charges for more information about specific Facilities support services and their costs). If you cannot access a specific application on one of our software distribution servers, you probably need specific permission to download, install or use it. To obtain such permission, send mail to help+license@cs.cmu.edu with the name of the software package, and the CMU asset number and hostname of the computer on which the software will be installed.

Some definitions

There are several different types of software licenses help by SCS, and the definitions below appear in many of the licensed software descriptions:

• Annual license: A lease that provides the right to use a product for the year for which the license fee is paid. The annual fee also pays for upgrades issued during the year and technical support to one or more designated people in the School.
• Perpetual license: A license that provides the right to use in perpetuity the version that was licensed. An annual maintenance fee is paid to obtain upgrades and technical support.

How to

Related documentation

Application software

Information about software applications that have SCS-specific installation or configuration procedures.

Additional resources

The following offsite links will open in a new browser window:

CMU Software Licensing Office

Campus guidelines for acquiring and retaining licensed software. The "Software Licenses" link shows current licences and leads, in turn, to download links.

CMU Computer Store

Obtain licenses, media, and maintenance for selected products via the Computer Store. See their product list for details.