Note: At the moment KnotPlot is available for Silicon Graphics workstations only. Sometime this fall it should become available for other architectures. When that occurs, word will be given at this site. Also, I am currently only providing licence files to academic institutions, reseachers in knot theory, or other people with non-commercial interests. If you have strictly commercial interests in the software, let me know and I'll tell you what my current policy is on that.
Before I can send you the key for crypt or your licence file, I would like three pieces of information detailed below.
The first item of information I need is the IP address or domain name of the machines on which you'll be running KnotPlot. On most systems, all you should need to do is to enter the command:
hostid
and it should print the Internet address of the machine you're running on (in hexadecimal). You could also try the command:
domainname
although some systems I've noticed don't have the domainname set properly. Try the above two commands on several machines that you'll be running KnotPlot on. Generally the three most significant bytes of the hostid and the domainname will be the same on all the machines in your local network. This is the information I need in order to generate you licence file (called kp-thing). Mail me the data and I'll send you a uuencoded copy of your licence file. The previous page has information on what to do with the file after you've uudecoded it.
Next I would like to know the type of architecture you will typically be using. This is partly for my own curiosity and to help with problems that may occur on certain architectures. For example, if you have a fairly minimal SGI there are tips that I can suggest to greatly improve the performance. At the other end of the spectrum, I've heard there might be some problems on certain high end graphics machines, but I can't tell for myself since I don't have access to anything like that. Getting the information is simple, just enter the command:
hinv
and let me know what it says about the graphics board. For example, is it an 8bit, 24bit, high impact, reality engine, etc. As you are no doubt aware, there is an enormous difference between these different graphics options. These details are really optional. If you feel to lazy to bother with it, that's OK. As I said it mostly for my curiosity and to help with potential problems.
The last piece of information is simply the name of the institution you work at. I like to build that info into the licence file. Also this is partly for my own interest. It's really optional, but hey you're getting free software, so why not let me know? :-)
After you've figured out all this stuff, send it to me and I'll send back the information you need to continue with the installation of KnotPlot.