The way Adobe software is deployed in Rice University registrar-managed classrooms and labs has changed. In order to comply with the vendor’s software license requirements, the Adobe Creative Suite (Adobe CS) software can be shared among multiple users, but only on the one device for which the software was purchased.
To meet Adobe’s compliance requirements with the small set of Adobe CS licenses purchased for Rice University’s registrar-managed classrooms and labs, the software will be available in only a few buildings. When classes begin in August 2014, Adobe CS will be available only in these Registrar-managed classrooms:
* Anderson Hall
* VADA’s Media Center
* Fondren Library’s Digital Media Center.
Adobe CS will also be available on several general use computers in Fondren Library.
Adobe Reader, a free PDF viewer, remains available in all Registrar-managed classrooms and teaching labs, college labs, Fondren Library and Mudd Lab. PDF creation can be managed in all Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) in those classrooms and labs. Adobe CS contains tools like InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Acrobat Pro –a PDF creator and editor, but IT has found alternative, open source tools for the most popular apps, including:
* Gimp (photo editing)
* Scribus (desktop publishing, poster layout, etc)
* Inkscape and Libre Office Draw for (illustrations, vector drawings, flow charts, etc)
IT expects the restrictions to have minimal impact on students and faculty based on responses to the Academic Technology Services (ATS) team, formerly known as Educational Technologies. ATS began contacting the Rice instructors that use the teaching labs as soon as the new restrictions were revealed. Of the faculty contacted, several agreed that open source alternatives would be acceptable. The majority of faculty contacted by IT regarding the new restrictions responded that Adobe CS software would not be required for their course.
Please direct questions, or suggestions for other open source alternatives to Adobe CS applications, to the IT Help Desk: helpdesk@rice.edu.