license server

[alb]

Hi everyone,

is there any license server out there providing licenses on a 'per-use'
base?

<background>
we have several licenses in house, mostly node-locked, some floating but
in our FPGA design flow a great deal of the time is spent on a stupid
editor (vhdl/verilog) with very little use of the license itself.
</background>

We were wondering whether exists some services which 'lend' the license
on a 'per-use' base and is charged for the amount of *actual* time the
license is used.

Any comment/idea/suggestion is appreciated.

Al

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

 

[HT-Lab]

On 10/03/2014 13:30, alb wrote:

Hi everyone,

is there any license server out there providing licenses on a 'per-use'
base?

background
we have several licenses in house, mostly node-locked, some floating but
in our FPGA design flow a great deal of the time is spent on a stupid
editor (vhdl/verilog) with very little use of the license itself.
/background

We were wondering whether exists some services which 'lend' the license
on a 'per-use' base and is charged for the amount of *actual* time the
license is used.

Any comment/idea/suggestion is appreciated.

Al

Most vendors have a so called term license, that is you purchase a
license for several month. This is relative expensive but might be a
solution for you.

If you spend most of your time with an editor then get 1 license and
share it amongst your engineers. You can install the license on a server
and VNC into it, share a dongle etc.

Hans
www.ht-lab.com

 

[alb]

On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, HT-Lab wrote:
Hi Hans,

On 10/03/2014 13:30, alb wrote:
We were wondering whether exists some services which 'lend' the license
on a 'per-use' base and is charged for the amount of *actual* time the
license is used.

Most vendors have a so called term license, that is you purchase a license
for several month. This is relative expensive but might be a solution for
you.

I was aware about this, but it does not solve the issue. The amount of
projects we work on is sufficient to require a 'continuous' access to the
licenses. Nevertheless the amount of sharing can be greatly optimized if
there was a service which charged on per-use base.

If you spend most of your time with an editor then get 1 license and share it
amongst your engineers. You can install the license on a server and VNC into
it, share a dongle etc.

sharing a dongle is something we do already (manually). Even if this is
the case and the users were using it throughout the whole working day
(which is not true) a dongle is grossly underused.

Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use them
and make some profit out of them .

--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

 

[HT-Lab]

On 10/03/2014 16:17, alb wrote:

Hi Alb,

On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, HT-Lab wrote:
Hi Hans,

On 10/03/2014 13:30, alb wrote:
We were wondering whether exists some services which 'lend' the license
on a 'per-use' base and is charged for the amount of *actual* time the
license is used.

Most vendors have a so called term license, that is you purchase a
license for several month. This is relative expensive but might be a
solution for you.

I was aware about this, but it does not solve the issue. The amount of
projects we work on is sufficient to require a 'continuous' access to
the licenses. Nevertheless the amount of sharing can be greatly
optimized if there was a service which charged on per-use base.

<realism>
If a per-use scheme would bring in any extra money then I am sure the
EDA (or any other) industry will adopt it. Trying to get something
supported which will bring in less money is never going to be easy ;-)
</realism>

If you spend most of your time with an editor then get 1 license and
share it amongst your engineers. You can install the license on a
server and VNC into it, share a dongle etc.

sharing a dongle is something we do already (manually).

You can share a dongle over the network, not sure how legal this is.

Even if this is

the case and the users were using it throughout the whole working day
(which is not true) a dongle is grossly underused.

Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use
them and make some profit out of them .

You will find yourself quickly in court.....

Regards,
Hans
www.ht-lab.com

 

Den mandag den 10. marts 2014 18.00.25 UTC+1 skrev HT-Lab:

On 10/03/2014 16:17, alb wrote:



Hi Alb,



On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, HT-Lab wrote:

Hi Hans,



On 10/03/2014 13:30, alb wrote:

We were wondering whether exists some services which 'lend' the license

on a 'per-use' base and is charged for the amount of *actual* time the

license is used.



Most vendors have a so called term license, that is you purchase a

license for several month. This is relative expensive but might be a

solution for you.



I was aware about this, but it does not solve the issue. The amount of

projects we work on is sufficient to require a 'continuous' access to

the licenses. Nevertheless the amount of sharing can be greatly

optimized if there was a service which charged on per-use base.



realism

If a per-use scheme would bring in any extra money then I am sure the

EDA (or any other) industry will adopt it. Trying to get something

supported which will bring in less money is never going to be easy ;-)

/realism







If you spend most of your time with an editor then get 1 license and

share it amongst your engineers. You can install the license on a

server and VNC into it, share a dongle etc.



sharing a dongle is something we do already (manually).



You can share a dongle over the network, not sure how legal this is.



Even if this is

the case and the users were using it throughout the whole working day

(which is not true) a dongle is grossly underused.



Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use

them and make some profit out of them .



You will find yourself quickly in court.....

yeh I seems to remember year ago someone tried to start service licenses sharing. With people in different time zones that would be pretty smart

It was quickly shot down, can't remember what big eda tool it was but I think there was something about not being allowed to use a license more than a mile from the company that bought it

-Lasse

 

[alb]

On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:
Hi Lasse,

Den mandag den 10. marts 2014 18.00.25 UTC+1 skrev HT-Lab:
[]
Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use

them and make some profit out of them .



You will find yourself quickly in court.....


yeh I seems to remember year ago someone tried to start service licenses
sharing. With people in different time zones that would be pretty smart

It was quickly shot down, can't remember what big eda tool it was but I
think there was something about not being allowed to use a license more
than a mile from the company that bought it

Damn it I think you are right! I used to have access to Cern licenses'
pool but the maintainer warned me about using it only within the site
/thanks/ to a clause mentioning some physical distance between the user
and the license...

And what if I'm travelling around the globe but still want to have access
to the license that I legitemely paid?

<rant mode on>
In a world where everything is connected I find these type of clauses a
threat to individual's freedom. Imagine if you buy a pair of shoes that
you can only wear within a single city, or a cup of coffee that you can
only drink within 2 blocks from the coffee shop...
<rant mode off>

 

[HT-Lab]

On 11/03/2014 07:58, alb wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:
Hi Lasse,

Den mandag den 10. marts 2014 18.00.25 UTC+1 skrev HT-Lab:
[]
Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use

them and make some profit out of them .



You will find yourself quickly in court.....


yeh I seems to remember year ago someone tried to start service
licenses sharing. With people in different time zones that would be
pretty smart

It was quickly shot down, can't remember what big eda tool it was but
I think there was something about not being allowed to use a license
more than a mile from the company that bought it

Damn it I think you are right! I used to have access to Cern licenses'
pool but the maintainer warned me about using it only within the site
/thanks/ to a clause mentioning some physical distance between the user
and the license...

He is right, the distance clause is there to prevent company A from
sharing its license with company B next door.

And what if I'm travelling around the globe but still want to have
access to the license that I legitemely paid?

I just checked my Modelsim license agreement which states:

A site is restricted to a one-half mile (800meter) radius. Customer may
have Software temporarily used by an employee for telecommuting purposes
from locations other than a Customer office, such as the employee's resi
dence, an airport or hotel, provided that such employee's primary place
of employment is the site where the Software is authorized for use.

So you are OK to use it on your travels (assuming you use Modelsim). I
suspect that most EDA tools have a clause like this. Just make sure you
have your dongle insured in case you loose it.

If you want to use licenses globally you have to pay for a WAN license.

Regards,
Hans.
www.ht-lab.com

rant mode on
In a world where everything is connected I find these type of clauses a
threat to individual's freedom. Imagine if you buy a pair of shoes that
you can only wear within a single city, or a cup of coffee that you can
only drink within 2 blocks from the coffee shop...
rant mode off

 

Den tirsdag den 11. marts 2014 09.48.45 UTC+1 skrev HT-Lab:

On 11/03/2014 07:58, alb wrote:

On Mon, 10 Mar 2014, langwadt@fonz.dk wrote:

Hi Lasse,



Den mandag den 10. marts 2014 18.00.25 UTC+1 skrev HT-Lab:

[]

Maybe we should think about lending *our* licenses when we do not use



them and make some profit out of them .







You will find yourself quickly in court.....





yeh I seems to remember year ago someone tried to start service

licenses sharing. With people in different time zones that would be

pretty smart



It was quickly shot down, can't remember what big eda tool it was but

I think there was something about not being allowed to use a license

more than a mile from the company that bought it



Damn it I think you are right! I used to have access to Cern licenses'

pool but the maintainer warned me about using it only within the site

/thanks/ to a clause mentioning some physical distance between the user

and the license...



He is right, the distance clause is there to prevent company A from

sharing its license with company B next door.

or "worse" company A, B and C in Asia, Europe and the US



-Lasse