> The proper desktop version requires an office license
That's not true in my experience. I'm running a proper "OneNote 2016" version without any license or subscription. This is also stated on a Microsoft support site [0]:
> OneNote (formerly called “OneNote 2016”), the _free_ desktop app which runs on all supported versions of Microsoft Windows and which is part of Office 2019 and Microsoft 365.
Further down, it's stated:
> Download OneNote as a free standalone Windows desktop app (some features may be limited).
[0] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-the-differ...