Archives

May I install software from the ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription on OS/2 and/or eCS?

No.

While some content from an active ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription will indeed overlap content included in the OS/2 and eCS Drivers & Software subscription, the license metering for the software subscription (personal or commercial edition) is limited to one system per subscription. Further, some content is specifically limited to updating components included in and licensed exclusively for use with ArcaOS.

Some content included in an active ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription may depend upon the personalization data present in ArcaOS, further limiting its usability on systems lacking this information.

In short, content delivered as part of the ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription is licensed only for use on ArcaOS.

May I install software from the OS/2 and eCS Drivers & Software subscription on ArcaOS?

Yes.

While the personalization of the ArcaOS installation may not be clearly displayed following installation of content downloaded from an active OS/2 and eCS Drivers & Software subscription, the content from that subscription is fully licensed for use on ArcaOS to the limit of the license metering for the software subscription. Presently, this means that for personal edition subscriptions, no more than five systems in total (OS/2, eCS, and ArcaOS) may receive installations of software from any one subscription. Commercial subscriptions are limited to one system per subscription.

Note that there are additional complications which may apply to installing such content on ArcaOS. The support included with the OS/2 and eCS Drivers & Software subscription only covers the content in such subscriptions. Any interaction with other components of ArcaOS which might necessitate support for a non-covered component will result in the inability of Arca Noae to assist in resolving the issue involving the other component, just as we would be limited on OS/2 and eCS. So, while the software itself is fully licensed for use, and includes full support as provided with the OS/2 and eCS Drivers & Software subscription, the additional level of support for the rest of the operating system is only available with an ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription.

Where do I download my subscription software?

Software packages included as part of an ArcaOS Support & Maintenance subscription are generally accessible from the ArcaOS Download Center. To access the ArcaOS Download Center:

  1. Visit your customer portal on the main Arca Noae website. If not logged in, you may do so when accessing the above link.
  2. From the navigation links on the left, select ArcaOS Download Center to view the list of your ArcaOS licenses and associated downloads.

Software packages included as part of the OS/2 & eCS Drivers & Software subscription content are generally accessible from the order details page for the active subscription. To access the order details page:

  1. Visit your customer portal on the main Arca Noae website. If not logged in, you may do so when accessing the above link.
  2. From the navigation links on the left, select Orders & Subscriptions to view the list of your orders.
  3. Select the order containing your original subscription order (a renewal order will include a link to take you to the original order, identified as: Access associated downloads here).
  4. Click the View button for the selected order to access the order details page.

Once on the order details page, your subscription packages will be available for download by clicking on each link.

Some other subscription content will be made available in our subscription YUM repository. This is an authenticated repository which may be added to your YUM configuration or to Arca Noae Package Manager. You will need your Arca Noae credentials handy when adding the repository to your configuration. See this wiki page for more information and refer to Arca Noae Package Manager‘s online help for guidance in adding the subscription repository to your configuration.

What’s the difference between personal and commercial levels of support?

Personal subscriptions and licenses entitle the holder to create support tickets in the bug tracker, and to access software updates. If a personal subscriber or licensee has a suggestion to make for a product enhancement, we will gladly listen to it. Support issues are handled on a best-effort basis, which means that resolving them may take anywhere from a few hours to a few months, depending upon how busy staff is supporting commercial subscribers and licensees.

Commercial subscribers and licensees, in contrast, receive prioritized support. This doesn’t always mean that problems will be resolved overnight, but efforts are first put into resolving issues reported by commercial subscribers and licensees, and when product enhancements are requested, these go to the top of the stack when we are considering where to expend our development efforts. In essence, commercial customers hold more sway, and their needs are always a priority for us, generally because we understand that mission-critical processes may be hanging in the balance, whereas personal subscribers and licensees should be using the software in non-business, and thus, non-critical environments.

Note also that the included term of support for some products may differ for personal vs commercial subscriptions. An example of this is ArcaOS, where the personal edition includes 6 months of technical support and updates, whereas the commercial edition includes one full year (12 months) of technical support and updates.

I already have a software subscription from Mensys for eComStation. Does that entitle me to your subscription content?

In short, no.

We have nothing to do with Mensys, XEU, or IBM, for that matter. Our software subscription service is unique. In many ways these subscription and support services complement each other, however, so there should be little overlap of entitlements. A software subscription for eComStation does not include our unique content (drivers and software developed by us), nor is ours likely to include any of their content. Thus, the two subscriptions are completely different.

Warp 4 users will likely find much of our content useful. We do not limit the systems on which our drivers may be installed simply because of branding, but rather, only due to capability (minimum kernel requirements and other functional prerequisites).

eComStation users will find content here which they cannot get anywhere else, even with a fresh install of the latest beta version of the next eComStation release.

When my subscription expires, will my drivers (USB, ACPI, JFS, etc.) continue to work?

Yes! Your drivers will continue to work as long as the hardware on which they are installed (or the virtual machine in which they are installed) remains compatible with them. In other words, there is no operating time limit imposed on the drivers (or any other software included in your subscription).

Your subscription entitles you to one year of access to upgrades, maintenance, and support for your software. When your subscription expires, you will no longer have access to these benefits, but whatever you have already downloaded will continue to function.

Are free software packages included in my subscription? If so, then why am I paying?

Your subscription entitles you to a wide array of applications and drivers as they become available. Some of these applications and drivers may indeed be freely available elsewhere, but not packaged and delivered in the same manner as Arca Noae provides them. In many cases, a portion of your subscription actually pays for the repackaging of these components to ease the installation and maintenance burden which is so often the greatest obstacle to keeping a modern system up to date.

A full discussion of the differences between archives, installers, and package managers is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but briefly, these three concepts may be defined as:

  1. Archives: single-file bundles of files, with or without placement information stored in the package; essentially, just a collection of individual files.
  2. Installers: applications whose sole purpose is to facilitate the unpacking of some type of archive in an orderly fashion, and (usually) to remove it (uninstall).
  3. Package Manager: an intelligent installer, capable of maintaining a database of installed applications and dependencies, which handles packages containing detailed information as to where files should be placed and what other packages may be needed in order for the installed software to function. In addition, when uninstalling a package, a Package Manager checks to see if anything else which depends upon that package to be uninstalled may be broken in the process, and warns the user.

Thus, some of the software contained in the packages we offer as part of our subscription may be freely available in archival format from a variety of other sources, yet our package management interface is unique, and we provide this software in packages to be delivered and maintained by our Package Manager.

I paid for a subscription. So when do I get a new version?

Updates and upgrades during your subscription term for all software entitlements are freely available to you. We do not guarantee any updates or upgrades, however, nor do we publish or predict when any updates or upgrades may become available. It is entirely up to you when (and whether) to check for them.

Some software which may be provided as part of your subscription entitlement may be mature, meaning updates are few and far between, simply because there is no pressing need for them. Other packages may be updated frequently.

We may post announcements in our blog when new releases of various components become available.

What’s the difference between a software subscription and an entitlement?

Consider a magazine subscription.

You purchase a one-year subscription to the magazine. Each month, a new issue is sent to you, for you to enjoy its content.

The content is the entitlement. You are entitled to the content in the magazine because you purchased a subscription. The subscription gives you access to your entitlement.

All of the software and drivers made available to you as a result of your subscription, including any periodic updates available during the term of your subscription, are entitlements. We sell a subscription, not an entitlement. The subscription grants you access to whatever entitlements we may make available to you.