Family Historian User Group

I'm in my 30 day test period and am really liking it, my main draw back is the price since the limitation is 2 computers. I use 3 computers at home and a 4th laptop which travels. My question is, is the purchase limited to 2 "computers" or 2 installs? Could I install the program on my NAS Network drive? Install to drive X: which the 3 desktops all access/share, and then the 2nd copy on my Laptop?

Welcome to FHUG. Glad you are liking the program.

What you are asking for is neither technically possible nor permitted by the license. You will need to buy two copies for four installations.

User data and settings can be shared.

If you only had it on one of the home PCs, would remote desktop from the other two be a way round the restriction? You'd only be able to use one of the three at a time and the one with the install would need to be up all the time.

It might be worth asking Calico Pie about their multi-user licence:
https://store.family-historian.co.uk/pr ... r-licence/
Base price (Commercial): £41.67 + VAT if applicable for 5-9 installations versus £59.95 for a 2-user licence.

I don’t know how these things work, but can purchasers from outside the UK/EU reclaim the 20% VAT?

Mark, why is that relevant here?
£41.67 + VAT = £50 for 5-9 installations is still cheaper than £59.95 x 2 = £119.90 for a couple of 2-user licences.

If VAT can be reclaimed then it applies to both prices and the comparison is still valid.

A quick trawl through Google suggests that businesses outside UK can reclaim 20% VAT but may depend on reciprocity agreements between countries. It has become less clear post-BREXIT.

tatewise wrote: ↑

01 Mar 2023 11:02

Mark, why is that relevant here?
£41.67 + VAT = £50 for 5-9 installations is still cheaper than £59.95 x 2 = £119.90 for a couple of 2-user licences.

If VAT can be reclaimed then it applies to both prices and the comparison is still valid.

A quick trawl through Google suggests that businesses outside UK can reclaim 20% VAT but may depend on reciprocity agreements between countries. It has become less clear post-BREXIT.

But that's £50 per licence Mike and the minimum purchase is 5 so it would cost £250.

Nick,
CP’s guide on this is very ambiguous, but I read it as £50 per multiuser license, not £50 per user

Gowermick wrote: ↑

01 Mar 2023 12:28

Nick,
CP’s guide on this is very ambiguous, but I read it as £50 per multiuser license, not £50 per user

I am pretty certain that isn't the case. I have dealt with a lot of multi-user licensing over my working life and there is no way it will be cheaper for a commercial licence for Family Historian than a consumer one.

It says:
"When you buy multi-user licences, you must specify the number of installations required. The minimum is 5"

"Prices are in pounds sterling. The base price for each licence depends on the band. Base price (Commercial): £41.67 + VAT if applicable

Sorry Nick, it still says per licence, not per user
As I said earlier, very ambiguous, but as neither us are in the market for one, I’ll leave it to those who have bought one to tell us what they mean

I don't really see the ambiguity. The licensing works in the same way that most commercial licensing works. Multi-user means multi-computer. The guide also says "Each licence specifies a maximum number of permitted installations. ". So a 5 'multi-user licence' will cover 5 computers. The original poster needs to install on 4 computers but the minimum puchase is 5 licences which would be ~£250 so a commercial licence isn't the correct option.

Mikes (both of them!) - common sense seems to have gone out the window here - £50 for 9 installations or £60 for 2...

If it were that easy, we’d all do it! First rule of financial due diligence - if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Mark,
I took it to mean you paid normal price for the software, then an extra £50 for multi-user licence. Makes perfect sense to me

Welcome to FHUG, Gene123 - one useful suggestion about how to legitimately use FH on multiple PCs, then a further dozen posts while one working IT pro and 3 retired OAPs discuss licencing terms...

Multi-user :
It is covered earlier on the page, Nick is correct the base price is per installation. So the minimum price is 5 times the base price plus VAT if you are in the UK or EU.

Mark1834 wrote: ↑

01 Mar 2023 16:06

Welcome to FHUG, Gene123 - one useful suggestion about how to legitimately use FH on multiple PCs, then a further dozen posts while one working IT pro and 3 retired OAPs discuss licencing terms...

Plus a parallel discussion on the FHUG Facebook page

OMG! Happy to give that one a miss...

Still better than fora for other genealogy software where all people do is moan about how they don't like a new version, how the company is forcing them to spend money, accompanied by sniping and rants about how sharing info to Ancestry or depending on Ancestry for your tree is a bad thing.

I'll take the type of discussions in the string above over all the rest any day

Mark1834 wrote: ↑

01 Mar 2023 16:06

Welcome to FHUG, Gene123 - one useful suggestion about how to legitimately use FH on multiple PCs, then a further dozen posts while one working IT pro and 3 retired OAPs discuss licencing terms...