Licenses and simultaneous users.

[Hillel Weintraub]

I'm a bit confused about what some database companies call, for example,
"8-user licenses" and/or 8 simultaneous users licenses. I thought that this
meant that only 8 people would be allowed to access the database at one
time, through some sort of password checking system. But I have been told
that in the case of Oracle, their 8 user package didn't mean that more
users couldn't access the data at one time, but that there would be some
sort of data switching access that would make the acquisition slower for
more users.

Does anyone have any experience with these terms in their own agreements
with various (library) database companies like Innopac, Inmagic, Sydney,
Oracle, Ameritec?  If so, I would like to hear your explanations.

Thanks, Hillel

Hillel Weintraub
Doshisha International Jr/Sr High School
Kyoto, Japan