7.
Software for Windows NT
The PCS group provides a wide range
of software for FNAL NT domain users. In this chapter we first discuss software
licensing issues. The rest of the chapter contains information on:
- where/how to find software
useful to your job functions
- purchasing software
- installing and removing
software
7.1
Software Licensing
Whether or not you need a license
to use a software product depends upon how the software is distributed. The
distribution categories include: commercial,
shareware, freeware, and public domain. We describe them briefly in section
7.1.2:
Software Distribution Categories . First, in section
7.1.1: License Types ,
we discuss the license types.
We
(the PCS group) act as software distributor to the groups we support. We
maintain a database of the licensed software used by members of our supported
groups for the purposes of managing upgrades, coordinating bulk purchases to
get favorable pricing, and managing licenses.
We
have implemented a program whereby all the licensed software we control is
"keyed" according to its use restrictions. We install the client
portion of this program, KeyAccess , on
the workstations in the domain.
KeyAccess intercepts all events initiated from the workstation
relating to keyed programs, ensuring that only authorized access occurs. When
you're accessing a keyed program, you can see the
KeyAccess icon on your taskbar.
7.1.1
License Types
The software that the Computing
Division provides for NT users is all legally licensed according to one of the
following license types:
-
Site license: licensed to the entire Fermilab site and can be used by any
Fermilab user
- Unspecified multi-user license:
licensed for use by a maximum number of concurrent users; any Fermilab user can
run it as long as there is a copy available
- Specified multi-user license:
licensed for use by a specified number of identified users (concurrently or
not); no one else can run it
- Individual license: licensed for
use by a particular identified workstation
7.1.2
Software Distribution
Categories
- Commercial
Commercial software represents the majority
of software purchased from software publishers. It is virtually always
copyrighted, and the licensing restrictions vary somewhat vendor to vendor and
product to product. It is generally more expensive than competing shareware
products. Often evaluation copies are available, but they usually have a
built-in "time-bomb" wherein after a certain number of days the
product will no longer work unless you key in a valid license number.
- Shareware
Shareware is marketed by freely distributing a
limited or fully functional version of the product, usually via the Web, for
evaluation by potential users. Like commercial software, shareware products are
generally copyrighted and must be purchased for continued use. The licensing of
shareware usually operates more by the honor system than by embedded
time-bombs, but is still legally required. The licensing restrictions are
usually a little looser than those for commercial products in the area of
redistribution, but they vary from product to product.
- Freeware
Freeware is distributed freely without a
license fee (notice we didn't say "without a license"), usually via
the Web. Like commercial software and shareware, freeware products are
generally copyrighted. Thus restrictions on use and redistribution may apply,
and they vary from product to product.
- Public Domain
A software product becomes public domain when
the copyright holder relinquishes the rights to it. Software in this category
has no fee and no licensing restrictions associated with it.
7.2
What Software is Available and Where
Can You Find It?
For a
list of some of the more widely used products at Fermilab and their
availability, see our Web page
Software Products for Windows
NT .
Products provided on the FNAL NT
domain are maintained in a few different locations, depending on their
licensing category and function. Some of these products need to be downloaded
and installed into your area before using, others are ready for use in the
location where you find them. Contact your server administrator if you have any
questions or if you need a product downloaded and installed.
- The
Pckits server (select
Pckits under your Network
Neighborhood) is maintained by the PCS group, and it stores software in
the Desktop Tools folder that can legally be made
available to all authorized users of the domain, namely freeware and some
site-licensed applications. There is a wide functional range of applications
represented in Pckits/Desktop Tools .
- Departmental servers are each
maintained by a PCS group representative, and generally have an area set aside
in which applications are stored (e.g.,
CDAPCApps on
cdaserver1). These applications may include freeware, shareware and/or
commercial products (generally licensed for multiple users), and often are
specific to the types of functions people in that department perform. Access to
a given product by authorized users of the server is restricted according to
the product's licensing agreement.
- Individually-licensed products
supported/maintained by the support staff are generally stored in the
pcapps folder of the licensee's user volume on his/her
designated server (see section
9.1: Storing your
Files ).
7.3
Purchasing Software Products
You
may occasionally find that none of the provided software meets a particular
need, in which case you'll have to obtain a product that does. You may be
satisfied with one of the freeware or public domain offerings, or you may need
to purchase a shareware or commercial product. Once you've determined which
product you need (and have received approval for purchasing it), we strongly
recommend that you submit your request through your local server administrator.
He or she can verify that the software you're ordering is compatible with your
environment, that the application runs on NT, and often tell you whether it
will install on the server or if you need to install it on your local disk. The
server administrator can also either order the product for you or provide
guidance on the procedure you should follow.
7.4
Installing Software Products
We
recommend that in general you install any products you obtain independently
into a programs folder that you create in your own user area on your designated
server (e.g., U:\myprograms ).
Don't install products into the
pcapps folder in your area; that is for applications that the support
personnel maintains for you. We recommend installing on the server rather than
on your local hard drive whenever possible for reasons stated in section
9.1: Storing your
Files (namely, for backups, maintaining a "clean" machine and
virus-checking). Some applications will only install on your workstation's hard
drive, in which case you have no choice. Be extra careful about keeping the
original media in this case!
Software that is installed on an
NT client for use by multiple users on that specific machine only should have
the shortcuts placed in the 'All users' profile area (typically configured to
be under C:\\Winnt\Profiles\All Users\Start
Menu\Programs ). This area is seen by all users when they log into the
machine. Some applications may have trouble with this, in which case other
users will have to find the software without the benefit of shortcuts, or they
can create their own.
Many supported users do not have
the authorization (or the inclination!) to install products, and they need to
contact their local server administrator to perform the install. For those
users who do have authorization and who prefer to
install the software themselves, we still recommend that you contact your
server administrator to find out if there are any particular guidelines you
should follow.
7.5
Removing Software Products
Whenever a program is installed, entries get made in the registry. The registry
is the database used by Windows NT (and by Windows 95/98) to keep track of
settings for all the installed programs, as well as for the OS settings.
(Windows 3.1 used .ini files for this purpose.) When
you're ready to uninstall a product, you want to make sure that all of its
"tentacles" get removed from the registry properly in order to keep
the registry, and thus the system, working properly and efficiently. Using the
NT Add/Remove Programs feature is your best bet for
accomplishing this.
We strongly discourage you from
attempting to edit the registry directly; a single bad edit may cause the
operating system to fail or to be unable to boot, sometimes requiring
reinstallation of NT.
The NT Add/Remove Programs
feature is found on the Control Panel (select
Start , Settings ,
Control Panel , Add/Remove
Programs ), and shown below. Select
Install/Uninstall , as shown, choose the product you want to remove, and
click on Add/Remove . As a safety feature, a
pop-up screen asks you to confirm that you want to remove this product before
the system goes ahead.
If you have trouble removing a
product, or you observe incorrect behavior on your system after removing a
product, contact
pcs-group@fnal.gov
for assistance.
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