Software: General Information

Brown University provides several methods for obtaining software depending on licensing agreements and audience.

Software Downloads from the Web

Brown University faculty, staff, and students can download most Brown-licensed software from the web by visiting Brown's Software Distribution page. This page also provides information about software available through CIS including lists of titles available for use on different operating systems and related information and resources. You will also find links to open source, freeware and shareware.

While making the software readily available to the Brown community, Brown must comply with vendor license agreements. To fulfill licensing requirements, software management tools may be used to control access to certain applications.

• KeyServer/KeyAccess - One of the tools that Brown uses to manage some of the software on the download page is KeyServer. This tool has a client called KeyAccess which must be installed before users can download and/or launch applications managed by KeyServer.



• Brown's license manager - CIS installs vendor license management software on an internal license management server at the request of some vendors.

Both KeyServed software as well as those applications requiring Brown's license manager may be used off campus while connected to Brown's Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Other Purchase Arrangements

In addition to the software available on the web, Brown has made arrangements with some software companies to provide discounts for individual and departmental software purchases. If the software you need is not accessible as a web download, use the following links to determine whether you are eligible to obtain a particular type of software through a Brown purchasing arrangement:

• Microsoft
• Select - Faculty & Staff
• Student Select - Students
• Stata

Some software licenses are available as a download, in the Public Computing Clusters, and as a stand-alone purchase to faculty and staff. To see a list of currently available products that may be purchases, view the list at Brown's Software Purchases page.

More Information

If you can't locate a software title or if you have questions about software licensing, product information, or purchasing specialized software, please email: Software_Services at Brown.