Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commercial use?
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Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commercial use? - 18.May2009 3:41:16 PM
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ruudboek
Posts: 7
Joined: 18.May2009
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Dear miss, sir,
is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for use in a commercial company?
If yes, how many copies is one allowed to install in the company?
Kind regards,
Ruud
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 20.May2009 5:34:05 AM
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ruudboek
Posts: 7
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Am i right in posting this question here, or is this the wrong place for this question?
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 22.May2009 5:07:19 AM
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Brian [GFI]
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Joined: 29.Oct.2008
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Hi Ruud,
GFI Backup - Home Edition is intended for home use and is restricted to running only on Windows Home Workstation: Windows XP Home / Starter Edition / Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Starter / Home Basic / Home Premium.
regards,
Brian Azzopardi
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 22.May2009 6:17:38 AM
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ruudboek
Posts: 7
Joined: 18.May2009
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Hello Brian,
thank you for your reply.
GFI Backup - Home Edition seems to work just fine on Windows XP Pro, which i use at home and was pre-installed on my home laptop.
Also the system requirements make no mention of a limitation to a home OS:
System requirements - Intel Pentium III processor or above
- 256 MB RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
- 8 MB free hard drive space
- Windows Vista/XP/2000/NT.
I already contacted GFI customer service about this and they informed me that GFI Backup - Home edition is indeed intended for home use, but you are allowed to use it for commercial use.
The reason why i am posting this question is because sometimes people also use their home laptop in the office.
If GFI Backup - Home Edition is also freeware for commercial use, then people who install it on a laptop that they sometimes use at home as well as in the office are not doing something illegal when they bring their laptop to the office.
Could it be that you were mistaken?
Kind regards,
Ruud
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 22.May2009 5:07:43 PM
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JimKaram
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Joined: 22.May2009
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I'm a prior Titan Backup licensee, but I run Windows Vista Ultimate and Business on my home desktop and laptop respectively. Are you saying that I now have nothing to show for my prior investment in your software, will your new freeware run on these machines?
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 23.May2009 4:16:11 AM
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ruudboek
Posts: 7
Joined: 18.May2009
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Brian,
i finally figured out that you were refering not to a software limitation, but an actual license limitation.
After the 8th time i went through the license i finally noticed that there is a line called "GFI BackupTM is licensed by Windows Server or Windows Home Workstation."
Then in the "3.Definitions" section there is this line explaining to what OS's " "Windows Home Workstation" applies:
("Windows Home Workstation") - Machines running any of the following operating systems: Windows XP Home, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium.
I think this license doesn't make any sense.
If you want to make sure that people use GFI Backup - Home Edition at home, then restricting the use to a home OS is not the right way to do this, in fact it could be that this will have quite the opposite result.
The difference between Windows XP home and Windows XP Pro is only in features, it is not so that you are not allowed to use Windows XP Pro only in the office and Windows XP home only at home.
In fact, milions of people bought a computer that has Windows XP pro pre-installed on it and are using it at home.
The same goes for Windows XP home, thousands of commercial companies are using Windows XP home as we speak.
I would like to suggest for GFI to consider to remove the "Windows Home Workstation" license restriction for the following reasons:
1. I took me 8 times reading and a hint to finally figure this license out. I can imagine that a lot of honest, hard-working Windows XP Pro users, who are using the sofware as intended, -at home- , are right now in breach of the license and totally unaware of it. This license is rather misleading.
2. If people would act accordingly to the license, then a lot of home users are deprived of the ability to use the software and a lot of corporate users will be able to use the software -in the office-, which is not as you intended.
3. It is totally unfair that one home user can use the software and the other can not.
4. If people will be aware of this restriction, then it could very well be that they won't interprate the giving away of GFI Backup - Home Edition as a very nice gesture, but as a freeware with a "catch". Then all you end up with it is a potential customer who has been disappointed.
5. As was mentioned in the previous post, this is also not fair to the Titan backup users, who actually paid for the product and could basically interpret this freeware as a " limited" followup to Titan backup, rendering GFI Backup - Home Edition for some of them useless.
I do unstand that GFI wants people to be aware of the fact that GFI Backup - Home Edition is meant to be used at home, not in the office.
That is fine, but in my opinion forcing this on them by a non-transparent license restriction, that simply does not make sense, is not the way to go.
Let's be fair, isn't the name "-Home Editon" that is clearly visible throughout the user interface, but also the limited feature set, not sufficient to reach that goal?
I do think that giving away a clearly quality product for free, is a fantastic gesture from GFI. What better goal can there be, to help people prevent their precious family photo's from getting lost? I've seen this happen to people all around me, finally i can help them out with some really good software.
Brian, i would appreciate very much if you would be able to forward this post to the right people at GFI.
< Message edited by ruudboek -- 23.May2009 4:23:55 AM >
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 23.May2009 7:53:33 AM
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Blood
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Joined: 23.May2009
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I agree.
I've been using Titan Backup for some time. I am a home user and I use Windows Vista Ultimate.
Home use licensing should not be tied down to OS flavour.
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 24.May2009 7:09:35 AM
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bgfraser
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Joined: 24.May2009
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Putting "Home" in the title of the program suggests that it is not meant for commercial use. But if they really mean that, they should make it plain on the webpage, under "System requirements" or some such thing.
As it stands now, it's no different than "Windows XP Home" and "Windows XP Pro." There is nothing wrong in using XP Home in the office. It is only a marketing suggestion of how these products might be used.
Now if you want to backup the office network, that's a different matter. This is where GFI makes their money, by selling to -- according to their info page -- "small and medium size business."
- Bruce Fraser
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 26.May2009 8:20:16 AM
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bgfraser
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Further evidence that it’s OK to use GFI Backup – Home edition for commercial purposes:
Look at their signup page: http://www.gfi.com/landing/bkuphm-computer-backup.asp?adv=952&loc=176.
1) It requires users to state what company they work for.
2) Under “How many users?”, the suggested answers go up to “2500+.”
Also: the EULA (End User Licence Agreement) makes no mention whatsoever about restrictions according to home or commercial use. The only use of the word “home” is to describe versions of Windows, and also the ominous “call home” paragraph. Similarly, the only use of the word “business” is to describe versions of Windows, and the usual disclaimer that we are not responsible if this software destroys your business. Aside from that, it’s the usual stuff one finds in these contracts.
- Bruce Fraser
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 8.Jul.2009 3:10:30 PM
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AFlowers
Posts: 165
Joined: 12.Feb.2007
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Has GFI offered a definitive answer to this question? I've been checking through all the info, and can find no clear answer.
How about for the small (2-5 computer) office? If this is not legal, is there a for-purchase product?
Thanks in advance!
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 10.Jul.2009 6:50:42 AM
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amusc
Posts: 130
Joined: 19.Nov.2002
From: Malta
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Hi all,
Thank you all for your feedback both in this thread as well as other posts. A new build is being prepared which contains - amongst a number of feature updates and fixes - an update to the EULA which clearly identifies that GFI Backup - Home Edition is not to be used in a commercial environment.
While not presently available yet, a commercial version is being worked on and prepared for release later on this year. I would like to invite you to join the beta list on which we will announce and make available early builds for your review and feedback. To join please go to beta.gfi.com containing the details of how to sign up.
Should you have any queries please feel free to contact me.
Andre' Muscat - andre@gfi.com
Director of Engineering
GFI Software Ltd.
< Message edited by amusc -- 10.Jul.2009 6:53:24 AM >
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 11.Jul.2009 3:54:01 AM
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ruudboek
Posts: 7
Joined: 18.May2009
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I now have 2 questions:
1. Do you mean by that, that with the new build one is not allowed to use gfi home edition in a commercial company, or that it will be advised not to use gfi home edition in a commercial company?
2. Will the planned commercial version of gfi backup be released as freeware for both personal as well as commercial use or as paid software?
< Message edited by ruudboek -- 11.Jul.2009 3:55:56 AM >
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RE: Is GFI Backup - Home Edition also free for commerci... - 15.Jul.2009 9:53:34 AM
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amusc
Posts: 130
Joined: 19.Nov.2002
From: Malta
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The GFI Backup - Home Edition is not allowed to be used in a commercial company. From the feedback in this post it was clear that we needed to make it clearer and will be doing so with the build which is targeted for release in the coming weeks.
As for the licensing/freeware model question for the commercial edition of the product, unfortunately I am not in a position yet to reply to your question as we are still evaluating options as well as talking with our partners and customers on this very topic.
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