This article is inspired by questions I got from one of my readers who earlier requested my advice on accounting software for his business. After weeks of reviewing a number software product from various vendors with him, he was finally decided on the free software to download.
After using the software for three months he got an alert message that his trial period was about to expire and there was need to purchase a software licence. This made him panic especially that he was not sure what would happen to the transactions already processed.
When he contacted me and narrated the situation, I realized there was need for me to do a bit more of explaining to him because the software in question was only offered free for download on the internet for a three months trial period after which you have to buy a software licence through a registration process yet he missed this very important point.
In answering his questions this is what I Explained.
A Software licence is a legal instrument governing the usage or redistribution of software. The license grants you as the end-user permission to use the software giving you rights and restrictions depending on the type of license you purchase. In other words, when a developer sells software, they are actually not selling the software but they are selling a license which allows the user to use their software.
The fact that you are able to download software for free does not automatically mean you can use the software for free. Software with a shareware license is offered for free either in magazines or on the internet but the “freedom” is for a specific trial period after which you must buy the right to use the software. Software which can be used totally for free is licensed under freeware license.
The license is what imposes restrictions on the end-user for example on the number of computers it can be installed on and the number of users to access the application at the same time.
A single user license software can only be installed on a single system while a multi-user license means that the software can be installed on multi systems depending on the numbers specified in your license. An enterprise site license is a license for all computers within all offices of a company or school. This also covers multiple locations or satellite offices of a company.
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About the Author:
Fixed Asset Consultant at Prosperity Agencies Limited with over 10 years practical experience in physical verification, bar-coding of assets and fixed asset software implementation +260 211 239859
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