LabVIEW license for terminal servers and thin clients (e.g. LTSP)

[Methis Elddir]

Does NI plan to provide a license agreement for terminal servers and thin
clients?

I've been told to purchase a multi-seat license. That doesn't make much
sense since the thin clients won't be accessing DAQ hardware. They're
just used for developing the LV source.

Comments/suggestions?

[jbrohan]

This is more of a comment than an answer!
The Run time is free, so whatever is running an executable will not need a license. As far as I know it's the capability to edit the source code that NI has chosen to make you pay for, if you have 2 programmers you need two licenses. If you are alone and edit code on 2 machines then also you need two licenses.

I express myself clearly in the hope of guidance. I am a one man shop and I'd like to be able to leave a labview installation at each of my clients so that I can work on it when I go there. Apparently this is not allowed!

You say "That doesn't make much sense since �." One of my clients has a copy of LabVIEW on his home computer, which is a laptop, so he can work at home. This is allowed. If he brings this laptop
to work then he must not use the LabVIEW on that machine, since the one license is on another machine. He is the only LV user! Go figure!!

Yours Sincerely
John www.tradersmicro.com

[Methis Elddir]

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 13:43:58 -0600, jbrohan wrote:
> As far as I know it's the capability to edit the source code that NI has
....

Yes, this is a very good point. Quite a unique situation when compared to
text based languages. Keep in mind I certainly don't mind paying for that
but I see no need to pay for much of the other features - like running it.
This is certainly one of the other features you pay for with LV. Since
we never plan to run the app on the thin client, why pay for that
feature?

What we do is crank out source code on the thin clients. We then send the
source code to this wireless mobile DAQ station running WindowsXP. From
there we can roll it up to our clients' target systems. That machine is
used for debugging then compilin
g so it has its own LV Prof Dev license
installed on it. Also, it can be operated locally or remotely via remote
desktop (one user at a time).

I know it may sound strange but it works great. And as the NI Software
License Agreement(NISLA) specifies, we have separate licenses on all
machines that load LV into local memory. The thin clients load nothing
into local memory, hence no need for a separate license.


> I express myself clearly in the hope of guidance. I am a one man shop
....

Yes, this is understandable. Installing one license on multiple machines
is a big no-no. However, that is not what I'm trying to do. Take a peek
at the "Grant of License" and "Single Seat License" sections of the NISLA.


> You say "That doesn't make much sense since ..." One of my clients has a
....

Ha! How about this scenario: As wireless hardware (bluetooth, wifi)
becomes more common, perhaps NI will have a peer scanner on all PCs with
LV installed. That way if you get within 100 feet of a P
C with the same
LV serial number, you get locked out and it sends a small message to the
NI batcave.

Thanks for the response. I'm hoping NI chimes in soon.