MAIN is owned by S4SBL d.o.o. (established in 2007), which is descendent of CPS (Computer Programs and Services d.o.o. established in 1993), that in 1995 changed to S4C (Software for Crystallography d.n.o.) and that in S4SBL d.o.o.. CPS was established on the basis of contract (GI 1497RBH) signed on June 21st 1993 between Graching Instrumente as representative of Max Planck Gesellschaft and CPD that allowed the company to exclusively distribute software MAIN developed as during the doctoral thesis by Dusan Turk. After ten years, in 2003, the software turned into the property of the company.
The "Free of charge non-profit" MAIN www distribution site is at Jozef Stefan Institute, whereas for commercail use or for volunatrily license for MAIN send an e-mail to Dusan.Turk at siol.net.
Free of charge non-profit use of MAIN
In order to reduce my efforts for MAIN distribution ACADEMIC executables have been created. The executables can be used free of charge by academic and non-profit organizations as well as individuals. (Proprietary research with unpublishable results does not qualify for an academic type of research.)
By downloading the academic MAIN distribution it is assumed that the user has agreed to accept the terms and conditions of the charge free academic license agreement (lic_academic_nocharge.text).
When there is a desire to support the "MAIN" project also financially, the license fee business should be carried out.
MAIN development is a research project. The license fees are there to support MAIN development and also living standard of the author(s). The policy is that adding new utilities should not increase the license fees.
There are three kinds of license agreements you can sign for MAIN use: the free of charge license for non-profit organizations and individuals, the one restricted to academic use and a general one.
The fee for the academic license is not obligatory, it is a gesture of free choice to reward MAIN creation and user support. The academic and general license agreements both include maintenance and user support. The academic license agreement covers a two year maintenance period, whereas the general license covers one year maintenance. The license fees are fixed downwards, but they are lowered and negotiable for smaller companies. The license fees have no upper limit, however, higher donations are licensee's own choice.
When requesting a license agreement please send (by e-mail) your full address and name and the domain name of your site including its domain name(s). (Use "nslookup" program to get the computer names and addresses properly.) Please "DO NOT SEND" the license agreement text, which is only there as an example. The license agreement will be send to you in two copies and you should signed them and return one signed.
MAIN licensees not covered under the "free of charge license" get their own executable file(s), which are bound to a site by its TCP/IP numbers or domain name(s). The executable file includes the name of the institution and sometimes the name of responsible scientist signing the license agreement. This information is displayed when the program starts. When you decide to use the program under such conditions please contact Dusan.Turk at siol.net and then arrange the financial issues. It is not unusual that the fees arrive with half a year delay. The policy is that the fee can be transfered after the program has already been in use.
Anyone can freely use complete MAIN documentation, its auxiliary files and MAIN demonstration executable file(s), but remember that freely use does not mean freely distribute. A citation of MAIN use in a published work is, however, mandatory.
Example of an License Agreement for academics (lic_academic.text).
Example of a License agreement for profit organizations (lic_profit.text).