Can I install a single license on a PC and a Mac if I don't use them simultaneously?

I know it is a dumb question and the answer is probably no. I am a home user and I only want to purchase one copy. I have a PC and a Mac and I don't use them simultaneously. Do you know if I can use install Matlab on both of them? PC is for home and Mac is for when I am not at home.

Answer 1

[Rik]

Based on this thread, I think you can install Matlab on a single computer only (but multiple OSes) if you have a home license.

No doubt a Mathworks staff member will correct me if I'm wrong.

(edit: although it sounds like you can install on multiple machines, you are only allowed to use a single computer at a time, so this could mean needing to re-activate every time you switch computers)

[Walter Roberson]

The last time I read through the Student and Home license wording I remember mentally noticing that the wording could be interpreted as allowing installation only on one computer and no possibility of transferring license. I would need to have another look at how all the clauses are set up to see if that interpretation is contradicted

[Walter Roberson]

PART ONE: LICENSE OFFERINGS

1. License Options

      1.1. Individual License Option

      (ii) A Named User may install the Programs on up to four (4) different
      Computers but may not use a Program on more than two (2) Computers
      simultaneously, except that Student and Home Licenses are limited to a
      single Computer.

This is ambiguous as to whether the "limited to a single computer" applies to use of the program simultaneously, or to installation on multiple computers.

However,

2. License Uses

      2.4. Home

      (ii) A Licensee of a Home License may use the Programs only on a single
      physical (not virtual) Computer owned or leased by the Licensee.

I would say these definitely rule out the possibility of installing a Home license on more than one computer but only using one of them at a time.

On the matter of whether a Home license can be moved between computers:

      1.1. Individual License Option

      (iii) The Licensee may redesignate the Named User authorized to use a
      Program, whether temporarily or not, up to four (4) times in any twelve
      (12) month period, except that Student and Home Licenses are not
      transferable.

      2.4. Home

     (v) A Home License is not transferable. 

PART FIVE: GLOSSARY OF TERMS

"Named User" means a Licensed User, that must be an individual, designated and
identified by the Licensee as the "Named User" for a License to a Program, and
in respect to the Network Named User License Option, listed in the Local
License Options File.

Here we see that a "Named User" is not the same as a login account or particular computer: "Named User" refers to the user themselves. In the situation of moving licenses between computers both owned by the Home user license, where the user is not changing (just the computer), then that would not, I would argue, constitute a "redesignation" because the person authorized to use the license ("Licensed User") would not change. The "not transferable" clause of 1.1 (iii) would thus not apply to that situation, I would argue.

That would leave us with the 2.4 (v) "not transferable" clause, which leaves us with the question of what "transferable" means. Is it referring to the host? Is it referring to the user? Does it mean both?

At this point we must say that the license terms with respect to the Home user are not really clear as to whether the license can be moved to a different host owned by the same single Home user. Permission to do so is not explicitly granted anywhere in the license terms, but the wording might not prohibit it either.

If someone were to argue that Home licenses are effectively locked onto the very first computer they were installed on, then I would say the argument has some merit. The same argument would also suggest that if you accidentally activate against user "root" or against a different version of your account name than MATLAB is looking at, then you are stuck, because changing the activation account name would arguably constitute a "transfer" potentially in violation of the ill-defined "not transferable" clause.

[Jan]

 "... locked onto the very first computer..."

At this point I still have to grin. What happens, if I replace the hard disk? Or the graphic card? Or the CPU? Or the main board? Or all together? Or do I have a "new computer" already, when I use a software tool to change the MAC address of my network card?

But Vinny's question is clear: Installing the Home license on two separate computer is not allowed. Thanks, Walter, for the explanations.

[Walter Roberson]

“This is George Washington’s axe,” the curator said with pride, gesturing toward a worn and rugged thing, locked inside of a glass case, “held in the very hands of the first President of our great nation.”

“Of course,” he said, “we are much more careful about it now than we have in the past. The room we used to store it in wasn’t climate controlled, and the wood rotted, so we had to replace the handle. And one of our interns dropped it one day, and the blade cracked, so we had to replace that, too.”

“But,” a young boy asked, “if the handle has been replaced, and the blade has been replaced, it isn’t really George Washington’s axe anymore, is it?”

http://thomas-galvin.com/blog/george-washingtons-axe/

[Rik]

Thank you for your expansive answer, Walter.

BTW: the ship of Theseus is arguably the original or more well known example of this paradox.

[Jan]

While I have to provide the certificate for finishing school again and again, nobody asked me, if I am still the same person. Most of my cells have been replaced and my brain works differently than 30 years ago.

For every written law, you can construct a situation, in which it becomes meaningless. Then only using a "common sense", "sound human understanding" is required. We can "anticipate" the meaning. And here the meaning is: "on one computer" - how ever you define computer.

Answer 2

[Jan]

This is the public forum. While the Matlab users can interpret the license conditions, the MathWorks knows their meaning exactly. Simply ask the sales team by using the "Contact Us" link on this page.

[David]

I don't see any such link! And my web browser agrees that the only reference to "Contact Us" on this page is within your comment.

What am I missing??

[Rik]

Believe it or not, the layout of this page has changed in the 5.5 years between this answer and now. The link used to be at the top of the page, then it moved to the bottom of the page, and now you need to search around a bit. Here is a direct link that should stay working a while:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html