can I use a compiled Matlab function shared on a private server ?

Hi to all,

I'm a newbie in Matlab development and Matlab Compiler, but I need to make available to a small group of engineering researchers a tool that was developed in Matlab, so the idea is to put it on a private access server a compiled version of the tool to let it process some data on request of the group participants. I'm using a university license Matlab on my desktop Linux pc: can I compile the module and install it on the Linux private server with the Matlab Runtime to let users batch call it to process some data and get their own results? Do I'll need other software installed/running? The group is composed by universities researchers, the use is only for study, and the access is reserved to group members, do we need a specific kind of licence too?

Thanks.

[Rik]

It doesn't sound to me like that would be a problem, but I don't work for Mathworks, so if you want an official response you should contact support.

Answer 1

[Walter Roberson]

There are a couple of MATLAB Academic license types that would not permit that; one having to do with licensing specific classroom computers, and the other having to do with licenses reserved for teaching purposes. (I did not even know the teaching-only license existed until a looked in the license file a few days ago.)

Regular Academic licenses, and Campus-Wide Licenses, are permitted to do what you are asking, but only for either research purposes or for "internal operations" . For both those kind of academic licenses, it is not permitted for there to be public access to the server running the software: access must be by way of individual login only.

Mathworks is not intending to make it "difficult" for you to provide access to the software, but there are legal differences between uncontrolled access to software, compared to the situation where you only provide access to known individuals (so, no group logins in which you do not know exactly who is in the group.) Uncontrolled access to software is legally considered "publishing" the software, but individually controlled access to software that has never been publicly available is considered not to be "published" -- and the academic licenses do not permit you to "publish" the compiled executable. (If you had reason to make the compiled executable available to the public without individual logins, then you would need a commercial license.)

[Stefano Nardone]

Thank you for your answer, it addressed me to do a complete reading of the program licenses: we have access to a CampusWide License and I, as a member of academic institution, have installed on my pc the software under the Individual License. The use of the compiled code is only for research purposes and only for authenticated users, not in an open access system. Anyway chapter 3 in the license file (Transformation Programs and Client Access Licenses) is not clear to me, so I'll contact Mathworks for being sure.