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A portion of this article appeared in the March/April 1995 issue of Benchmarks (Vol. 16, No. 2). That article then formed the basis of the Site License Web page (http://www-lan. unt.edu/HELPDESK/sitelice.htm) from which this is taken.
The University of North Texas Computing Center makes a wide
variety of computer software available to the Denton campus through its networks, host
computers, and software site licenses. This article will focus on the software we provide
under our various license programs for faculty, staff, and student use on UNT
microcomputers.
While some of these programs are centrally funded and available to
campus users at no cost, most are charged back to the departments at nominal prices. The
primary benefit of these programs to the university is in the cost savings they achieve.
Each licensing program provides current commercial software at bulk educational prices,
significantly lower than the retail prices for individual packages.
The Computing Center manages these licensing programs centrally,
but software installation is done at the distributed support level. Briefly, the process
works something like this.
We receive the software on CD-ROM or
diskette directly from the vendor,
and load it to our software distribution
server. That server is divided into
functional and vendor specific areas,
each managed by the appropriate support
person in the Computing Center.
As new products become available or
upgraded versions arrive, this group
sends electronic mail notifications
to all distributed software managers.
Each network manager, General Access
Lab manager, or departmental software
manager (often the same person), is
then responsible for installing or
upgrading the software on their network
server for general use.
Distributed support personnel are also
responsible for making any diskettes to
install stand-alone machines, or for
making local installations on networked
machines. The procedures for obtaining
software in each college, department, or
administrative office vary widely; ask
your network manager for details.
The products available range from highly specialized statistical
analysis tools to general purpose commercial word processing software. I will
focus on the products intended for microcomputer usage, running under the DOS,
Macintosh, OS/2, and Windows environments.
Documentation listed on our current price list can be obtained by bringing
or sending an IDO to Support Services in ISB 119. We can order documentation
for you from DIR through an IDO, or you may send them a PO directly. They prefer
to take orders on their own order forms, which are Excel spreadsheets. We have
separate spreadsheets for Claris, IBM, and Microsoft.
UNT provides two high-powered statistical analysis tools, SAS and SPSS, from
central funding. The licensing schemes are different, and there are some
restrictions on who may obtain copies of which products.
Under both of these licensing agreements, UNT provided copies of SAS and
SPSS may be used on privately owned microcomputers. SAS and SPSS are available
to both Denton campus and Health Science Center users.
The point of contact for statistical tools and research consulting is
James Yarbrough at 565-2140.
WordPerfect products have been available to UNT faculty and staff offices
through educational licensing for a number of years. They are also available
to students for use in the General Access Labs.
Initially this was through an 8-for-1 educational pricing scheme, with
licenses and disks sold directly by the Computing Center. During fiscal year
1993 we operated a centrally funded WordPerfect Customer Advantage Program,
using a central distribution server and decentralized installation by software
managers.
This program shifted back to reimbursable funding in fiscal 1995. Software
managers installed licenses on their servers and stand-alone machines, report
quarterly numbers, and reimbursed the Computing Center for each new or upgrade
license. Then in early 1996 the University entered into a blanket contract
with Novell for all Novell products. Reporting and reimbursement of
application product licenses was dropped. Immediately after the contract was
signed, Novell moved to divest itself of their applications division (since
purchased by Corel). The degree to which our contract with Novell for
applications software will be honored and products delivered or updated by
Corel is unknown at this time.
Products currently available under this program are WordPerfect for
DOS, Macintosh, and Windows; Presentations for DOS and Windows; and Works for
DOS and Macintosh. The newest releases are WordPerfect 3.1 for Macintosh,
WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows, and Presentations 3.0 for Windows. The new
Windows versions sport a tremendous number of new features and completely
re-designed interfaces.
Training on WordPerfect products is available through Academic Computing
Short Courses and UNT Human Resources Computer Classes. The point of contact
for WordPerfect products is Sandy Burke at 565-3856.
The Computing Center has a direct licensing agreement with Apple Computer,
Inc. for System 7.5.1, the latest version of the Macintosh operating system.
Our license allows us to upgrade any UNT-owned (Denton campus) Macintosh to
System 7.5.1. This agreement is centrally funded.
NOTE: Version 7.5.2 is shipping only with PCI Macintoshes. The next
release that will apply to Nubus as well as PCI Macs will be 7.5.4.
The point of contact for Apple products is Jason Myre at 565-2039
(myre@unt.edu).
The Computing Center is also a point of contact for the Apple College
Partnership Program for educational sales, facilitating both personal and
departmental purchases of Apple Macintosh hardware. The points of contact for
this program regarding departmental sales or individual faculty purchases are
Jason Myre at 565-2039 (myre@unt.edu) and Philip Baczewski at 565-3886
(baczewski@unt.edu). Students interested in
individual purchases should contact Eriq Neale at 565-4808
(neale@unt.edu) or the University Bookstore.
We currently make available ClarisWorks 3.0 for Macintosh and Windows, and
ClarisDraw 1.0 for Macintosh. Our Macintosh users rate ClarisWorks as the
best "works" product product by far of all those we have available.
Jason is also the point of contact for any of the Macintosh products from
WordPerfect or Microsoft.
The only products of note that we obtain through DIR's IBM contract are
the various flavors of OS/2. Since we do not currently support OS/2 as a
desktop environment, but more as a server OS, distribution is limited
primarily to technical support staff.
The dissemination of software is normally handled at the distributed
support level since it must be locally installed from CD-ROM or diskette.
Since OS/2 cannot be installed over the network, it is not mounted on our
distribution server. Essentially, the Computing Center provides the vehicle
for inexpensive licensing of additional copies for departments who have
already obtained diskettes or CD-ROM copies of OS/2.
The standard office applications, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, share the
same user interfaces and exchange files between platforms without translation.
For database software, the "xbase" compatible FoxPro is available on both
platforms, but the best-seller by far for database work is Access for Windows.
Computer Based Training is now available across the UNT network for
Microsoft Office, specifically for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access.
Although the CBTs are geared towards teaching the Windows interface, Macintosh
users will find them helpful if they can get to a DOS machine to run them.
The CBTs are DOS based, not Windows, and can be run from almost any
mouse-equipped IBM compatible PC on the campus. Instructions for accessing
the CBTs were sent by E-mail to all network managers and staff in April.
Instructions can also be found on page? of this issue.
In development tools, Visual Basic and Visual C++ are available in a number
of configurations for DOS, Windows, and Windows NT.
For those needing a quick and dirty Windows desktop publishing program
(and don't need the indexing and long-document capabilities of PageMaker,
Ventura, or Quark), MS Publisher is available. Most of the Microsoft products
are loaded on the software distribution server, and are available through
distributed support personnel. With the exceptions noted below under operating
systems, all Microsoft software is reimbursed to the Computing Center with the
quarterly reports by software managers.
The point of contact for Microsoft products is Chris Strauss at 565-2324
(strauss@unt.edu).
In addition to the DIR contract with Microsoft, we have our own direct
agreement with Microsoft under their Select program for operating systems.
This provides us with licensing for MS-DOS, Windows, Windows for Workgroups,
and Windows NT at prices generally below those of the DIR contract.
Some DOS upgrades (from versions prior to 5.0) and most MS-Windows
installations are currently funded centrally by the Computing Center. Software
managers have the details. The other Windows products are available but must
be reimbursed in the same manner as all other Microsoft products.
Windows 95 Yes, our contract with Microsoft does include Windows 95.
Pricing is an issue, however, in that Microsoft has not responded to our
questions about any price differential between 3.1 and 95 on our UNT contract.
That contract is up for renewal this Spring. Recent price lists from DIR
indicate a significant difference $21 for version 3.1 and $ 97 for 95. We
will post information on the Web page and on the Netman-L listserv list when
this is resolved.
There are a number of networking issues that must be resolved at both
campus and departmental/college level prior to any widespread deployment of
Windows 95. This is changing rapidly, so watch our support pages that
specifically cover Windows 95. Please discuss your plans to upgrade to
Windows 95 with your network manager/software manager. They are the only one
who can obtain the software for you under the site license, anyway. It will
be their decision (on a case-by-case basis) when and where Windows 95 will be
installed on campus.
Training on MS-DOS and Windows is available through Academic Computing
Short Courses and UNT Human Resources Computer Classes. The point of contact
for Operating Systems is Mike Wright at 565-3632 (wright@cc.admin.unt.edu).
Several small, specialized site licenses are also available on campus. The
most well publicized is F-PROT Professional, our primary defense against
IBM-PC viruses. We centrally fund this license from a commercial source for
all UNT Denton campus associated persons, for both UNT and student-owned
machines. It is available for download to diskette by faculty, staff, and
students at the Computing Center helpdesk, and in the General Access Labs.
It is also mounted on the software distribution server, along with the
NetWare server version NET-PROT, for software managers to install on faculty
and staff systems. This is a commercial variant of the program, and is
different from the freeware version of F-PROT available on our FTP server and
elsewhere on the Internet. The freeware version is for individual use only,
and is NOT authorized for use on UNT computers. F-PROT Professional is
currently available for DOS and Windows 3.1. A Windows 95 version is due for
release this spring, and will be available under current UNT licensing.
The point of contact for F-PROT is Eriq Neale at 565-4808 (neale@unt.edu).
Another well-know product is ProComm Plus for DOS, version 1.1b, a solid
but dated communications program. UNT purchased a site license for this product
years ago that enables us to give copies to any UNT affiliated person (valid
UNT ID card holder), free of charge. Attempts to move to newer DOS or Windows
versions have been stopped by prohibitive pricing by the vendor.
Windows 95 comes with its own very capable terminal program, HyperTerminal,
so demand for a UNT provided terminal program for Windows PC's is actually
dropping as students migrate to Windows 95 at home. ProComm is available for
download in the Computing Center Help Desk. A UNT ID and signature are
required.
A recent addition to Computing Center managed software is Hummingbird eXceed,
an X-Window server for MS-Windows. This product provides X-Windows terminal
emulation on a machine running Microsoft Windows 3.1 A fairly robust hardware
is required. To date, it has only been used by the Institute for Applied
Sciences.
The Computing Center has taken over the site license management in
anticipation of increased on-campus demand for a PC-based X-Window server.
Local or network installation is fairly complicated, and a new license number
must be purchased before the product can be installed. Workstation
installation from an established network system is much easier. An FAQ
contains specifics on how to order a new license. The latest version
(received in February 96) is 5.0.1.
Note: our license only covers Windows 3.1 versions of eXceed.
Separate software and licensing contracts will be required for Windows 95 or
Windows NT, if there is a demand.
The point of contact for eXceed is Chris Strauss at 565-2324
(strauss@unt.edu).
Even less well publicized is our license for an essential element of
Internet access via Microsoft Windows. This is the Trumpet Windows Socket
for TCP/IP connectivity. We have a license for all UNT associated machines.
The software is loaded on the software distribution server for software
managers to distribute.
The point of contact for Trumpet Windows Socket is Doug Bateman at
565-2568 (dbateman@unt.edu).
Another little-known license is ZoomText Plus, a DOS product that
magnifies screen characters. The user may zoom in by line, window, or full
screen. Magnification is from 2X to 16X. The software is especially useful
for individuals with certain visual impairments.
ZoomText is a Terminate-and-Stay-Resident program. ZTWin, a program
included with ZoomText, is compatible with Windows. It is available through
software managers, from the software distribution server, at no cost.
The site license stipulates that the software may be used on any computer
at UNT that is OWNED by UNT.
The purchase of UNT's site license was made possible by financial donations
from the following UNT departments: School of Community Service Adaptive Lab,
Center for Rehabilitation Studies, Office of Disability Accommodation, Equal
Opportunity Office, Computing Center, Academic Computing Services General
Access Lab, College of Business Administration General Access Lab, College of
Education General Access Lab.
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