Cendio was founded in 1992 by students from Linköping University, and is one of the oldest open-source companies in the world. During the first year of business the legal name of the company was Signum Support AB and the business was mainly focused on services and support against the local market. In early 2000 the company changed name to Cendio Systems, and the product Fuego Firewall was transferred to a new company called Ingate Systems, joint owned by Cendio and Intertex.
Since 2003 the name of the company has been Cendio AB, and the main focus has been the self-developed open-source-based software ThinLinc. ThinLinc helps organizations worldwide to publish Linux desktops and applications. Today more than 500 organizations worldwide are using ThinLinc in their daily operations, and more than 120 000 end users every day are accessing their Linux desktop with ThinLinc. Our customers run from 5 to 10 000 concurrent users and are mainly in the Industrial, Educational and Healthcare sectors.
Cendio actively develops and maintains the open-source projects TigerVNC and noVNC. Additionally, the company contributes to other ones such as Pulse Audio and VirtualGL. We are currently a team of 15 people, and the turnover in 2023 was ~US$ 2,4 million.
Cendio is still located in Mjärdevi Science Park in Linköping – the seventh biggest town in Sweden and the center of the aerosystems industry.
For more information on the city of Linköping and Mjärdevi Science Park please click on the links below.
Why do we invest in open source?
We are Cendio, proud to be one of the oldest Linux-centric companies in the world. Our team accumulated a lot of knowledge as a result of engaging for such a long time with Linux software development and open source projects. All of this experience resulted in ThinLinc, a multiuser Linux Remote Desktop Server totally free for up to 10 users. We are happy to see that ThinLinc helps thousands of users and system administrators to get easy remote access to their Linux Desktops.
Open source projects are an essential part of our DNA, and we invest in helping them progress. We proudly develop and maintain the TigerVNC and the noVNC projects. Both are central components of ThinLinc and make its graphical performance incredibly fast. We also support other projects through indirect engagement, such as VirtualGL and Pulse Audio.
Developing open-source and proprietary software allows us to deliver the best of the two worlds. On the one hand, we offer a fully supported and enterprise-level Linux Remote Desktop Server – ThinLinc. ThinLinc fulfills the needs of several system administrators that need to handle complex multiuser and multi-device environments. On the other hand, we can make TigerVNC, noVNC, and others available for a greater community. Cendio’s business model helps people by making Linux technology accessible and affordable.
When a customer decides to buy the ThinLinc subscriptions, this customer supports the development of open source software, as a great amount of our revenue is invested in those projects. We also make ThinLinc totally free for small installations, up to 10 users.
Frequently asked questions
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ThinLinc is packaged in subscriptions with a tiered pricing system. A higher number of subscriptions will give a lower price. The subscriptions can be purchased for different periods, 12, 36 and 60 month. A longer duration will give a greater price. The payment of the subscriptions is done in advance.
The default rule is that the prices are set in accordance with the number of subscriptions that are purchased at the actual call off. Deviation from this can be eventually agreed if a roll-out plan can be committed in advance.
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Every valid ThinLinc subscription agreement has a specific ID. Contact Cendio at support@cendio.com and refer to your ID, and we will issue new user licenses for you.
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Contact Cendio support team at support@cendio.com. And refer to your ThinLinc subscription ID in your support request.
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We will set up an evaluation account that gives the permission to receive support directly from our technical team. Cendio can also provide trial licenses for more than 10 users. Please contact sales@cendio.com directly.
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Cendio wants to sponsor organizations where the business aims to make the world better. This means to help people, regions etc. that really need help. Please contact us a sales@cendio.com.
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Cendio offers a non-profit discount for organizations that fall under the definitions that can be found at the https://www.cendio.com/thinlinc/shop/non-profit-organization/. Please contact us at sales@cendio.com for pricing.
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Cendio will, in good time before expiration of the ThinLinc subscription agreement, send a reminder by email. The renewal process will follow the same routines that are used in a new or additional purchase.
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Other set-ups are possible for bigger deals. Contact sales@cendio.com.
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Purchases can be done directly via invoice, web shop or by a reseller. Cendio is a Swedish and EU company with long experience from doing business with foreign organizations. If you have any questions or need support, please contact us at sales@cendio.com
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Best functionality and performance will always be achieved by upgrading to the latest version, both on the server and client-side. A newer version on the client-side will always give a better user experience than a former version. Cendio’s ambition is to keep good compatibility and functionality between the different versions. Historically, good compatibility between versions has been 3-5 years.
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A ThinLinc set-up consists of a server software, client software and user licenses.
Server software
The server software is the heart of ThinLinc installation and handles all sessions, desktop environments and generates the virtual desktop, workspace etc.
User licenses
To allow more than 10 sessions to connect access to the server software, user licenses need to be added into the server software. User licenses are bought from Cendio. Please note, when placing user licenses into the ThinLinc server, the counting starts from 0, not 10. In concrete, this means that you need to buy and install the number of user licenses that you need.
Client software
The client software is installed on the device that is used to connect to the server and provision the virtual desktop / workspace. If using the web access client, no local installation of client software is needed, the provisioning is generated via the web browser that is installed at the server.
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It’s up to the licensee to decide who can connect into the server installation. The ThinLinc client software is free of charge and can be downloaded by everyone.
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The licensing is per organization. There is no limitation on how the ThinLinc user licenses are distributed in the legal organization, as long as the number of consumed licenses don’t exceed the number of paid licenses. It’s allowed to move the user licenses, but not copy.
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The license usage can be seen in the Web Administration status module, details can be found in the status module documentation. ThinLinc will notify you when the limit of licenses has been reached, for detailed information, see our license handling documentation.
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Both the ThinLinc server and client software are free to distribute. The user licenses are connected to a purchase and are not allowed to be distributed. For more detailed information, see our end-user license agreement.
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A specific version of ThinLinc is supported 3 years from release date. After 3 years, Cendio can’t guarantee support.
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The number of user licenses that will be delivered will be in accordance with the number of subscriptions that have been acquired by the customer. The user licenses are perpetual.
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When adding user licenses into the ThinLinc server, the counting will start from zero. So if you require 200 users, you need to have 200 user licenses
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You need to buy user licenses and install them in the ThinLinc server. The user licenses are received through buying ThinLinc subscriptions.
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It’s easy to add new users into a current ThinLinc set-up. By purchasing additional subscriptions into your agreement, so will we issue additional user licenses.
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Cendio will, after receiving a valid order, distribute user licenses via email for the latest version after a purchase. If the purchase is a renewal and the customers have already received the latest version, no user licenses will be delivered by default, updated licenses will be delivered on request in this case.
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It’s possible to merge existing agreements. When doing a merge, the period shall be at least 12 months.
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The default rule is that the prices are set in accordance with the number of subscriptions that are purchased at the actual call off. Deviation from this can be eventually agreed if a roll-out plan can be committed in advance.
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The client software packages are free of charge.
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The ThinLinc license is perpetual and will still work after the expiry date of the ThinLinc subscriptions.
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Both as an individual and as an organization, it is not allowed to use the free version of ThinLinc if you have valid user licenses.
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ThinLinc is free to use for up to 10 concurrent users for both individuals and organizations (on a group basis).
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ThinLinc subscriptions give the possibility to run more than 10 concurrent users per ThinLinc installation. It also gives technical support directly from Cendio and the right to get upgrades (new versions) for ThinLinc.
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ThinLinc premium subscription gives prioritized answers, faster response time, and direct access to our qualified technical support via telephone service.
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The free version of ThinLinc is limited to 10 concurrent users and is supported via the ThinLinc community. The commercial version of ThinLinc is packaged in a so-called subscription and can be scaled for more than 10 users. The subscriptions also give the right to get professional support in ThinLinc directly from the Cendio technical team.
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ThinLinc is free to use up to 10 users at the same time per individual or organization worldwide, without any obligations. The usage can be 10 installations with one user per each or one installation with 10 users. What matters is that the 10 users aren’t exceeded.