Math Forum / Math Software / MATLAB / July 2008

The license terms for this are, ummm, not as clear as they could be.

According to the license.txt file:

THE MATHWORKS, INC. SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT - Deployment Addendum

8. WEB APPLICATIONS.  Only Programs licensed under the Network Concurrent
  User or Designated Computer Installation Types may be called from
  within a web Standalone Application, provided the web Standalone
  Application does not provide access to the MATLAB command line, or any
  of the licensed Programs with code generation capabilities.  In
  addition, Licensed Users may not provide access to an entire Program
  or a substantial portion of a Program.  Such operation of a Standalone
  Application via a web interface may be provided to an unlimited number
  of web browser clients, at no cost, for Licensee's own use for its
  Internal Operations, and for use by Third Parties.

Network Computer Use is relatively clear, but what is Designated
Computer Installation? For that we have to refer to other clauses
(that are officially in other addendums):

The MathWorks, Inc. Software License Agreement

5. INSTALLATION TYPES.

  5.1. Standalone Named User.  [...]

       Alternatively, for the Windows platform only, Licensee may
       install the Programs on a single, designated, standalone
       computer, provided the Programs are only operated from that
       computer's console by only one individual at any given time (a
       "Designated Computer" Installation Type).  Licensee may
       re-designate the standalone computer to a different standalone
       computer, whether temporarily or not, no more than four (4) times
       per year.  This Designated Computer Installation Type is in lieu
       of the Standalone Named User rights above, not in addition to
       those rights, and is intended to accommodate a single Windows
       computer shared by multiple users.                            

THE MATHWORKS, INC. SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT - Academic Installation
and Use Addendum

5. INSTALLATION TYPES.

  5.1. Standalone Named User. [....]

       Alternatively, for the Windows platform only, Licensee may    
       install and use the Programs on a single, designated, standalone
       computer as described in Section 5.3 below.  This Designated  
       Computer Installation Type is in lieu of the Standalone Named
       User rights above, not in addition to those rights.          

  5.3. Designated Computer.  The Programs may only be installed on a
       single, designated, standalone, computer, provided the Programs
       are only operated from that computer's console by only one    
       individual at any given time.  This Installation Type is      
       intended to accommodate Program access from a single computer
       shared by multiple users.  Licensee may re-designate the      
       standalone computer to a different standalone computer, whether
       temporarily or not, no more than four (4) times per year.    

So, if I have that right, for web deployment, you have to use either
Network Concurrent License (applicable to several platforms), or else
you have to use a Designated Computer license (Windows only); and
{here's the odd part} since the Designated Computer only permits the
Programs to be operated from the computer's console by only one
individual at a any given time", does that mean that whatever is seen
by the Standalone Application could only be the result of what
someone actually -at- the MS Windows computer console was doing?
That would seem to rather defeat the purpose of interfacing to it
via .NET ...

The addenda considered together also speak of "designated" usage
with respect to servers, but that does not qualify as a
Designated Computer Installation Type as is specifically mentioned
in clause 8 of the Deployment Addendum.

Even if you use the Network Concurrent User license mentioned in clause 8,
it isn't made clear whether you need to count a distinct
Network Concurrent User checkout for each simultaneous access,
or only for each matlab engine you fire up; if you write your
server so that it multiplexes simultaneous requests (e.g., divide
the work for each into manageable clumps and use a state machine to
keep track of what to do next for each connection), then would that
fall within the license terms??