What is a software license?

What is a software license?

Whiteboard Wednesday Episode 26: What is a software license?

Welcome to Whiteboard Wednesday, this week, what is a software license?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SdQv7-6u3g

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If you’re just starting in IT asset management or you’re just beginning to learn about software licensing, this is where it all begins. What is a software license? A software license in layman’s terms is the right to use a piece of software. 

Explaining how software licensing works:

So when you buy a software license and there are lots of different types, I’m buying the right to use a piece of software, but under certain terms. The comparison here is like when you’re renting a hired car at the airport or for a holiday, you’re not owning the car, you’re just borrowing it, you’re buying the right to use that hired car within certain terms. You know, within the terms and conditions that you sign, you’re not allowed to take the car to a cross the country rally or spray paint it to your own colour or do Millennium Falcon mileage on it. You’re gonna have to look after that car within certain terms. The same is true of software, a software license is the right to use a piece of software within terms as defined by the publisher.