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usnistgov / REFPROP-issues

A repository solely used for reporting issues with NIST REFPROP
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Licensing Refprop for a single user. #227

Closed EricLemmon closed 4 years ago

EricLemmon commented 4 years ago

When you purchase a single copy of Refprop, the license to use it applies to you, not for your computer; and thus you can install the program on all computers that are for your use only. We are more interested that users have correct thermophysical properties than we are about selling additional licenses, and have tried to make the single-user license as simple as possible.

The Refprop installer does not require any key or other security item to install the program. Because this is a scientific program, we tend to trust our customers knowing that they are generally professionals and abide by certain ethics of conduct. This makes it possible for you to reinstall the program at any time.

This can be especially important if you feel that your installed files have become corrupted or not working correctly, or if you've overwritten the xls file and would like to have the original back. In these situations, the best thing to do is to uninstall Refprop first and then reinstall it with the NIST2310.EXE file that you received from SRD.

If you have lost the installer, please contact SRD directly to obtain another one (data@nist.gov). If you have not purchased the program but would like to, the details are given at www.nist.gov/srd/refprop.

This thread is locked to keep it clean, if you have questions, please open a new issue.

EricLemmon commented 4 years ago

I was asked about situations where someone retires or leaves and how the license works. Assuming that the person uninstalls the program from his or her machines, the program can be given to another in the organization that purchased it. Transferring the program from one person to another is fully allowed as long as only one person is using the program on a regular basis. Of course, this statement could be taken many different ways - you are on your own honor to ensure that its use is appropriate with acceptable conduct. For example, a situation where one person uses the software during the first six months of the year and another during the last six months, and so on, is acceptable.