Atmospheric Science Computer Software Policy
Applicable to Windows, Linux, and Unix Operating systems devices
Page Last modified: 28 December, 2000
- On the whole, student-identified software additions have been valuable and we wish to encourage new ideas and suggestions. These considerations apply:
- A. Users are encouraged to install and test a copy under their own directory. Before installing any software, users should check to make sure that the application will not try to install libraries or other files in public directories such as /bin for UNIX. If this is the case then they should try to modify the defaults so that the installation can be entirely local to their directory or they should the consult the system manager.
- B. Users need to be cautious about viruses or other potential corruption of their files that may occur. Users are strongly encouraged to install software only from reputable companies and/or government laboratories. If in doubt, users are encouraged to contact the appropriate system manager for advice.
- C. Users are requested to inform the appropriate system manager regarding licensing issues, even if the user will be paying the cost. This includes non-fee license agreements such as those granted to academic institutions. It does not include limited time licenses granted for trial purposes unless the software remains on the system beyond the trial period. Notification is also not necessary for freeware, although this would help to prevent duplicating features already installed on the system. The intent is to have a central location for license information, such as to avoid duplicate licensing and to easily provide proof of licensing as necessary.
- D. Users are encouraged to contact the appropriate manager about installing specific software for wider use, once the user has tested software that he/she feels will be valuable to the group.
- All installations of general use software must be made under the supervision of the manager. These considerations apply:
- A. "General use" software installation requires the assistance of the manager for proper installation. The manager will need to know the location on our system of all elements of the software. For examples: it may need to be removed or upgraded at some point; it may need to be found when the OS is upgraded.
- B. Users will need to identify all relevant licensing information to the manager. This also includes complete identification of the source of the software.
- Software installations that do not conform to these guidelines might be removed at the manager's discretion without warning.
In any case It might be well if users informed the system manager of their intent. In some cases the manager might be willing, even eager to install it for general usage. Also in some cases there is very little space available on the user disks but plenty of space on the disks reserved for system files. In this case the system manager might be willing to create a special private directory on a system disk for the proposed application.
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