Software distributed via school - Free software?

[Seiken]

So I got an email last night in my college account and it's a link to a site with account details for a MSDN Software Alliance site through the school.

My question is, is the software installation/activation good for as long as I keep the software or is it some type of time bomb thing for "eval" purposes or some type of time limit set by the school or distributor?

There's a whole load of software and some of it is really expensive stuff (Server 2003 Enterprise, etc.)

 

[SHAWN]

Nice, Download it and find out.

 

[Seiken]

I already downloaded some. My degree is Computer Science, so they just gave me access to their library.

 

[Tyler1989]

What you refer to is the Microsoft Digital Subscriber Academic Alliance or MSDN AA for short. Yes it's a great program where you can get many things for free from school. ItÂ’s pretty common from middle school to collage.


Yes I also have Server 2003 and I got it from MSDN the problem with MSDN AA is that you cannot host websites from it for business purposes or your license agreement is revoked.

 

[Seiken]

What you refer to is the Microsoft Digital Subscriber Academic Alliance or MSDN AA for short. Yes it's a great program where you can get many things for free from school. ItÂ’s pretty common from middle school to collage.


Yes I also have Server 2003 and I got it from MSDN the problem with MSDN AA is that you cannot host websites from it for business purposes or your license agreement is revoked.

"Business purposes" meaning any form of profit. But I could use it for my own personal use (such as personal websites, etc) correct?

 

[Tyler1989]

Well they shouldn't have allowed you to get to the files without reading the terms of use. I'm not sure actually as I haven't used Server 2003 in some time. But I do know that Microsoft actually makes sure people follow their MSDN rules unlike everything else I'll look it up for you by asking my instructor when he gets online.


But I can tell you it's most likely ok to have personal websites or there is no purpose of Server 2003.

 

[Seiken]

Alright thanks. I'll keep checking for an update. I do remember something about the terms of agreement mentioning that it's forbidden to use the software for profit. They had Windows XP Pro and other things available as well.

Maybe what they mean by profit is by acquiring it for free and then selling it to someone else?

 

[Jorsoft]

Yeah Gates doesn't like it when you take his stuff and amke money with it. It's funny, since that's how Microsoft got rich in the first place