PhOSCo - the Pharma Open Source Community
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Unfortunately, because of US software patent legislation, it is no longer possible for us to offer free software download.
Persons and organisations outside the United States or other countries that enforce software patents may continue to obtain PhOSCo software for a media charge only or via subscription.
We now offer a range of packaged versions.
PhOSCo is now available as an installed "LiveCD" application set. This means you can run PhOSCo, read the documentation, access the source code, and anything else it's feasible to do with it on a computer, without installing any software on your computer, or indeed without writing anything to any hard drive at all.
All you have to have is a computer with a CDROM drive capable of running Intel software, with enough memory and speed. Minimum system requirements are:
This is possible by using Knoppix, the "LiveCD" Linux distribution. Just put the CD into the drive and boot your PC. Within a minute or so you will have a running system with PhOSCo and all pre-requisite software such as Java and a database manager installed and ready to run. You will have an empty database ready to start your own trial customisations, and exported sample trials ready to import for learning and demonstration.
PhOSCo subscribers will be sent a copy of the evaluation CD as part of their subscription.
Others may obtain PhOSCo CDs from the PhOSCo Knoppix CD page (click here).
We repeat. These runnable PhOSCo versions:
Note that these LiveCDs are not intended to run production trials. Live trials can be run from LiveCDs, to databases either on hard drive or USB Flash drives, from specially customised PhOSCo LiveCDs. Contact us via info@phosco.com for more details.
If you intend to use PhOSCo for commercial purposes, or if you require the Restricted Materials (such as Trial Server) you will have to make an application for a PhOSCo Licence or take out a subscription to PhOSCo. You should download this PDF file : PhOSCo General Licence - print it out and complete it. Send two completed copies to us at the address in the Licence, and we will take it from there. You can email us with queries regarding licencing or commercial use at info@phosco.com
The main documentation for PhOSCo is the User Guides, which you can download below. The versions here initially may be a little out of date; we are in the process of revising them and will be updating them here as we have them available. You may just find some new functions or menu entries which are not documented, in which case have a play or look at the code to find out what they do. It should be fairly obvious in most cases. There are other materials, which are distributed to licencees, such as the Sample User Requirements Specification document.
Trial Builder User Guide - Draft V1.3 Edition
For programmers and others interested in the detail of the code, there is full functional program documentation in HTML format
Following recent legal decisions within the USA, and the decision of some potential licencees not to take up free academic PhOSCo licences due to the potential of third-party intellectual property claims, we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we can no longer safely distribute or licence PhOSCo to the United States of America, or any other country or area where "software patents" are legally effective.
We wish to make it absolutely clear that so far as we are concerned, PhOSCo is 100% written by us, with no code other than unprotectable elements such as standard constructs and interface definitions taken from other sources, as with any software. We are not aware of any legitimate third-party claim against any element of PhOSCo.
However, recent events in the USA have shown that it is possible for patents to be granted and to appear that cover wide swathes of functionality that it is impossible for any large-ranging software package like PhOSCo to avoid. We (and others) have hitherto taken the view that these patents are or should be largely unenforcable because of their inherent invalidity, either due to prior art or to the fact of their being obvious to any skilled practitioner in the art (two tests for the validity of patents, normally applied in most patent regimes before the grant of a patent, but apparently untested by the US Patent Office). It now appears that juries are finding such patents applicable, and that large companies who should be expected to vigorously defend against such wide-ranging patents (such as in the recent case of Kodak vs Sun) are spinelessly conceding them. These patents are thus acquiring the precendent of being enforcable under law. The known fact of their existence also places us, in the case of US law, under penalty of tripled punitive damages if we know of their existence and continue any so-called "infringement".
Small companies such as ourselves cannot stand against what is, in effect, a legal protection racket. For us, the lesser evil is not to do business under such a regime.
Accordingly, from 9th October, 2004, PhOSCo is no longer licenceable in the United States of America or any other country or region that employs software patents. We will no longer distribute PhOSCo to such countries. While we cannot stop other persons distributing our software to such places, this is henceforth being done without our permission and contrary to the PhOSCo Licence. It is our position that previous versions of the PhOSCo Licence which allowed such distribution allow it only with the person or organisation doing the distribution being responsible for any third-party claims; and we request and strongly recommend to such licencees that they do not perform such distribution.
As with the Internet it is not easily determinable whether or not someone requesting a download of software or other files is in any particular country or region, we reluctantly have had today to remove the free download facility from this website. In future, anyone requiring PhOSCo software may only obtain it via a PhOSCo subscription or by purchase of a PhOSCo CD-ROM. No future sales or subscriptions will in future be entertained from citizens of countries or regions where software patents obtain.
What? Sorry, we don't guarantee free support. We can sometimes be persuaded to respond to queries, particularly if there's half a chance of licence sales, reciprocal support, useful comments or constructive criticism, or other goodies. Try your luck by email only, please, to drudge@phosco.com
As with all software, PhOSCo does occasionally throw up bugs. Click here to go to the Known Problems Page.
"PhOSCo" and "Pharma Open Source Community" are registered Trade
Marks of Guillemot Design Ltd.
Copyright (c) 2004 Guillemot Design Ltd.