FAQs
General Questions
Yes, our open source language builds are now available from our ActiveState Platform. Depending on your needs, you can purchase a subscription to one of our Platform tiers. For more information, see our Plans & Pricing page.
In some cases, you can still obtain licenses for our older Python and Perl products. In general, however, we don’t sell new licenses for past products. Instead, we’ll provide comparable functionality and features through the ActiveState Platform.
For more information on the functionality and features available at each subscription tier, see our Plans & Pricing page.
We are phasing out our Community Edition releases of ActivePerl, ActivePython and ActiveTcl. For more details, read our Important Changes To ActiveState’s Licensing And Pricing Model In 2021 blog post.
Instead, ActiveState is replacing them with the ActiveState Platform ecosystem, which provides users with a secure open source supply chain and advanced package management capabilities. Here’s why.
No, Komodo IDE is now open source. For more information, see ActiveState Komodo IDE Now Open Source.
ActiveState is no longer producing free versions of any language distribution for 32 bit operating systems. However, in some cases you can still get a 32-bit installer for ActivePython or ActivePerl if you have a Team or Enterprise Tier subscription to the ActiveState Platform.
For more information, see our Pricing Page.
ActiveState is no longer actively producing versions of ActivePython, ActivePerl or ActiveTcl. However, in some cases, you can still get older versions of ActivePython or ActivePerl if you have a Team or Enterprise Tier subscription to the ActiveState Platform.
For more information, see our Pricing Page.
A custom build includes a version of an open source language, plus all the packages and dependencies your project requires. You can use the ActiveState Platform to create your own custom build, or schedule a call with us here. We’d be happy to understand what specific requirements you have.
No, a subscription to the ActiveState Platform provides you access to all the languages and operating systems we currently support.
However, you are limited by the number of active runtimes you can deploy. An active runtime is an instance of software from the ActiveState Platform that is run in any 24 hour period. A Free Tier subscription provides only 1 active runtime, which is suitable for an individual working on their personal project. Organizations should consider purchasing a Team Tier subscription (suitable for up to 20 developers) or else an Enterprise Tier subscription.
For more information on tier subscriptions, see our Pricing Page.
Information on purchasing licensing can be found on our Pricing Page. You can also reference the specific license terms for each of our ActiveState Platform tier subscription’s End User License Agreement (EULA) here.
ActiveState Platform Questions
The ActiveState Platform is the only turnkey, secure software supply chain solution for open source languages, providing:
- An open source catalog that contains vetted Python, Perl and Tcl packages.
- A secure build service that offers isolated, ephemeral, hermetic and verifiably reproducible builds from source code.
- Checksum verification of all build artifacts ensures the final packages you work with haven’t been compromised.
The ActiveState Platform also offers developers a universal package management solution featuring:
- A single toolchain for Python, Perl and Tcl on Windows and Linux.
- Shared, reproducible environments eliminate “works on my machine” issues
- Automated notification and remediation of open source vulnerabilities
The most common use case for the ActiveState Platform User is to build, manage and/or download an open source runtime environment that contains a version of an open source language, plus all the packages and dependencies your project requires.
The ActiveState Platform is a tactical resource for developers, helping them to better manage their Python, Perl and Tcl projects on a day to day basis. But it’s also a strategic resource for Security Officers, allowing them to quickly and easily put in place a secure software supply chain to ensure the projects their developers are working on contain secure open source components.
E.g. Engineering Teams, Developers, IT groups, Data Scientists, DevOps and DevSecOps groups.
The long term goal of the ActiveState Platform is to provide a secure supply chain and universal package management for every open source language on the most popular platforms. Today that means support for Python, Perl and Tcl on Windows, Linux and soon Mac.
We charge for runtimes, which are made available through subscriptions to the ActiveState Platform. The first subscription level is our Free Tier, which offers one runtime to support individual users. Teams and organizations will want to purchase a subscription to our Team or Enterprise Tier, which offers concurrent runtimes, as well as more features/functionality.
- Runtimes are the built collection of artifact(s) that you deploy on a local device or virtual machine. A runtime forms an environment (which includes your open source dependencies) in which a program or script can be executed.
- Concurrent Runtime: The number of runtimes running simultaneously at any given point in time where a customer buys a fixed number of runtime licenses that can be used by an unlimited number of users. The customer would pay based on the number of concurrent runtimes they would typically need to operate across their software development lifecycle (from development to production environments).
The calculation for a subscription would be the sum of runtimes running via our state tool plus the number of runtimes installed via our installer.
If you have any questions regarding runtime usage and how it is calculated please contact us.
It depends primarily on your needs and the size of your organization. The more developers you have, and the more they work with open source languages, the more you can benefit from a Team or Enterprise Tier subscription. Information on each tier follows.
ActiveState Platform Free Tier – ideal for single coder
Provide 1 runtime for free. Offers the ability to build, work with and deploy runtime environments created from any language we offer on any platform we support. Support is via our community.
ActiveState Platform Pro Tier – ideal for projects that involve 1 to 2 developers
Includes 3 concurrent runtimes with additional language versions. Private as well as multi-OS projects. Users also have access to vulnerability (CVE) reports on a per-project level.
ActiveState Platform Team Tier – ideal for team project development and small scale production
Licensed as an annual subscription. Includes 3 concurrent runtimes, with the ability to purchase up to 75 concurrent runtimes. Offers the ability to build, work with and deploy runtime environments created from any language we offer on any platform we support. It also provides access to older / 32-bit Python, Perl and Tcl distributions/ Technical support is provided via email and chat.
ActiveState Platform Enterprise Tier – ideal for large enterprises
Licensed as an annual subscription. Includes 150 runtimes, with the ability to purchase as many as required. Offers the ability to build, work with and deploy secure runtime environments created from any language we offer on any platform we support.
It also offers access to:
- OEM licensing for bundling/re-distributing ActiveState’s Python, Tcl or Perl runtimes with your applications. Pricing varies. Contact us to discuss your customers’ needs.
- Indemnification against IP infringement lawsuits for ActiveState’s Python, Tcl or Perl distributions.
- Extended support for EOL languages, like Python 2
- SLA-backed Technical Support via chat, email or voice
For more information, see our Platform pricing page.
Yes, Platform Enterprise tier customers can obtain both technical support and indemnification. Tech Support is also provided at the Team tier.
See more information in our Platform pricing page here.
If you’re a developer, the best way to learn is to just sign up for a free account and try it yourself! But to help orient yourself you might want to view some of our 2-minute demo videos, or else read up on our Python or Perl package management capabilities.
If you’re a security professional, you might want to read an overview of our secure supply chain capabilities, or else read some of security-oriented datasheets.
- If you have more questions, please feel free to Contact Sales to arrange a demonstration of the Platform’s capabilities.
Technical Questions
PPM has been phased out. While PPM was included in all versions of ActivePerl up to and including version 5.26, the number of modules with which it worked has steadily declined. As a result, PPM is no longer available and has been replaced by the ActiveState Platform and the State Tool.
Whenever you add a package to your environment using “state install <packagename>”, the State Tool will tell the ActiveState Platform to build it (and all of its dependencies) from source code, and then download and install them in your local environment in much the same manner as PPM did.
For more information, please read Goodbye PPM, Hello State Tool.
Both PDK and TDK (as well as Active Perl and ActiveTcl Pro Studio) have been declared EOL. ActiveState no longer builds or maintains any of the tools that ship with PDK or TDK, and has stopped renewing support subscriptions. Support for existing contracts ceased on October 1, 2020.
For more information, please read Perl Dev Kit (PDK) Is Now End Of Life or Tcl Dev Kit (TDK) Now End Of Life.
ActiveState’s Community Editions (CE), including ActivePython CE, ActivePerl CE and ActiveTcl CE are being phased out. Instead, ActiveState is replacing them with the ActiveState Platform ecosystem, which provides users with a secure open source supply chain and advanced package management capabilities.
You can learn more about the transition by reading our blog posts:
As of Komodo v11, you will need an account on the ActiveState Platform in order to log into Komodo. Create a free account here: https://platform.www.activestate.com
Komodo IDE is now open source. For more information, see ActiveState Komodo IDE Now Open Source.
If you have at least a Team Tier subscription to the ActiveState Platform, you are entitled to ActiveState support. Please submit your questions using the Contact Support form.
If you have a Free Tier subscription to the ActiveState Platform, we encourage you to make use of the community-supported Komodo IDE Community Forums. While the forums are hosted by ActiveState, they are primarily for the use of the Komodo community, who actively respond to questions posted by users.
Komodo IDE is now open source. For more information, see ActiveState Komodo IDE Now Open Source.
