Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!comp.vuw.ac.nz!massey.ac.nz!GEustace
From: GEustace@massey.ac.nz (Glen Eustace)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: Another extension to PCNFSD
Message-ID: <973@massey.ac.nz>
Date: 11 Sep 90 20:55:01 GMT
References: <2142@wn1.sci.kun.nl>
Organization: Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
Lines: 57
X-Reader: NETNEWS/PC Version 2.2

I have had a couple of people reply to me via EMail regarding my idea
for controlling application licenses via PCNFSD.  Both thought it was
a good one.

We have been running a system that runs as standard programs that
'exec' each other.  Although it has been working well the whole
technique really needs to be below this so that there is *NO* way
that a user can actually get beneath the code and bypass any checks
or authorisation procedure.

I vaguely remember a couple of PC products that do something similiar
to our technique, then there are the PC Applications that actually do
their own license control e.g. Paradox, Advanced Revelation etc.

We have a number of limited site licenses ( upto but not exceeding
any 'n' concurrent users ) for various products and have an
obligation to those software vendors to provide the best protection
that we can.  A technique buried inside of PCNFS.SYS and PCNFSD would
be great.

I appreciate that adding features like this will increase the size of
PCNFS.SYS, but we are now getting to the stage where a majority of
our machines will be 386SX type or better and when PCNFS.SYS is
loaded hi there is still plenty of room for most applications.  May
be the next distribution could contain multiple versions of PCNFS.SYS
i.e. we don't use YP at all so any YP support code in PCNFS.SYS is
wasted in our case.

Printer Extensions.
======= ===========

We have already extended the NET USE for printers a little.  We use
the EaseSpool product from BKS and it uses the concept of queues
rather than printers.  It also implements forms.  so we extended the
syntax so that where printername was specified previously one now
specifies queuename[-formtype] e.g. sys1-labels.

Our biggest problem with printing is 'end-spooling' within
applications.  It would be great if in addition to the current
end-spool methods some of the others could be included e.g. whatever
Novell supports.  I appreciated that telling a package that a novell
network is being used to get printing working will probably break
some other part of the application because it tries to do something
that novell can do that pc-nfs can not.  May be the end-spool
technique out of one of the other more widely recognised networks may
be more appropriate.

-- 
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Glen Eustace, Software Manager, Computer Centre, Massey University,
Palmerston North, New Zealand.        EMail: G.Eustace@massey.ac.nz
Phone: +64 63 69099 x7440, Fax: +64 63 505 607,    Timezone: GMT-12

"He (Jesus) was in the beginning with God.  All things came into
being by Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has
come into being.  In Him was life; and the life was the light of
men." John 1:2-4 (NASB)