Some of you might have noticed that coincident with releasing GAMS 30.1, we have introduced some changes to our licensing model . Below we summarize what has changed.
Demo
We have changed the way we allow users to test GAMS (“demo mode”). We now require registration on our website and generating a demo license before using the software. Some might find this process annoying, but before introducing this new scheme, we simply did have no idea how many people were using GAMS in demo mode. For a company trying to understand and serve its customer base, this was utterly unsatisfactory. With the new scheme, we collect and process some personal data, which we use to generate a named license file - after all, demo licenses are not meant to be shared between users. Four weeks later, all personal data is automatically deleted (names, email-address, IP-address, even the license file itself). We keep just enough data to compile statistics about how many demo licenses have been generated over time, and which countries and organisations these licenses are popular in.
With the introduction of the new demo licensing scheme we have partially lifted the demo limits: GAMS will now generate linear (LP, RMIP, MIP) models up to 2000 constraints and 2000 variables, and up to 1000 constraints and 1000 variables for all other model types. No other limits apply (e.g. non-zeros or discrete variables). Some solvers (e.g., the global solvers ANTIGONE, BARON, and LindoGlobal) might enforce additional restrictions.
Community
We have also introduced community licenses for non-commercial users. For most solvers this new license type allows even bigger models to be solved (5000 constraints and variables for linear, and 2500 constraints and variables for other model types). The idea behind community licenses is to enable users who are not (yet) ready to get a professional license to continue developing their models which have outgrown the demo limits. If you sign up for a demo license on our website with your university email address, we will send you a reminder about community licenses.
We are confident that the revamped licensing scheme will be useful for a lot of people. Please send any comments you have to info@gams.com .