WINE server and MsOFFICE licensing.

[Guest requiemnoise]

I was wondering how does licensing for windows applications work on WINE? If I create a WINE server, create one user share account, hack the hell out of the registry and get Office 2003 running on it, create a launcher on the client that will forward the application through tunneling X using ssh with a compression, how do I get charged for the license? Do I get charged for concurrent connections or one user license?

[cooper]

I think this will work the same way as when you provide Office via Remote Desktop to your client(s). I just have no idea how that one works either, but this will be the scenario Microsoft should have thought about. Talk to your sales rep.

[Deveant]

hmm, we run Office of a novel Distribution server, all computers that have access to launching the application, need to have a licence of the application, even if we limit it so that it can only have say 5 active connections.

[Guest requiemnoise]

hmm, we run Office of a novel Distribution server, all computers that have access to launching the application, need to have a licence of the application, even if we limit it so that it can only have say 5 active connections.

So, the charge is based on connections? Not everyone needs MS Office Suites installed, because slowly migrated Windows users with OpenOffice. Hopefully, a full desktop as the time flies. I want to give them baby steps. However, once in a while customers send things in Excel documents with too much macros that can't be read by OpenOffice. You are saying, different users can share the license long as they aren't using them at the same time?

[meister_sd]

MS licensing is long and complicated. From the licensing seminars I've been too, most of the talk is per connection/user. If you are moving people away from Office, those licenses you free up should be able to be counted against the users in the remote session.

Most of the issues surrounding licensing is your intent. If the BSA came to your business and did an audit, they are looking more for pirated software and software grossly misused. (like buying one copy and installing it 5 times) I've been to many MS seminars and the speakers will sometimes contradict themselves from show to show with regards to licensing and different scenarios. VMs and remote sessions usually cause the most confusion and different answers.

So the short of it is, if you are trying to have the licenses for each user on file - you should be OK.