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02.19.10 Using Open Source To Reach A Broader User-Base  By
Roberto GaloppiniOver the last weeks Alfresco, Sonatype and WaveMaker made their own decisions about licensing. Alfresco went LGPL, Sonatype - a company with a strong Apache background - for the very first time decided to release some code under GPL, while WaveMaker dumping the AGPL in favor of Apache. Let's have a closer look at how - and if - these changes reflect new business directions. Alfresco. Alfresco's CTO John Newton, in an email exchange answered few questions around the last license change (why, evidences justifying the choice, trade-off between costs and returns). I believe this is our "SQL" moment. CMIS will standardize all the major ECM platforms in a huge industry. Independent software vendors will start to build content applications knowing that they will run on SharePoint, FileNet, Documentum, Open Text, Lotus, etc. This is exactly what happened in the database industry and when Java appeared. If Alfresco is available for free and it doesn't affect their licensing, then those developers should develop on Alfresco. How do I know this? It is not based upon survey, but previous experience and anecdotal information. MySQL became the platform choice of development since 2001. JBoss became the platform of choice for J2EE - and we were one of those building upon it. Weblogic got started by providing a free platform originally. We know that there are people out there today who are using Alfresco because it is free, but not making their code available as GPL as the GPL states. You are right that it is not a cost-free operation. The actual change is more annoying than anything else. However, we do have an OEM business based upon the dual license. Our bet is that the increase in application pull into enterprises through will more than compensate for any lost OEM business. So far the comments we have receive indicates that this is a good move. Alfresco's change reflects an interest in reaching a broader user-base through System Integrators offering solutions based on the community edition. Reading the differences between the community and the enterprise version is clear that users looking for enterprise grade software (QA, upgrade and maintenance, etc) will then move to the enterprise edition. John mentions the possibility that in a future Alfresco may go Apache or BSD, but this is not to be confused with the idea to embrace a more collaborative approach to code production. Sonatype. Sonatype's decision to throw over the wall some GPL code - namely the Nexus small-footprint repository manager - may sounds odd keeping in mind their strong Apache background (and Eclipse too). Reading Sonatype blog entry on the subject is self-evident that the decision has been carefully weighted, and I warmly suggest anyone interested in this matter to read it all. Take aways from their decision: • a clear need to protect their investment and allow the company to profit from them; • the will to share code and (if possible) code production; • the will to not prevent private enhancements; • be pragmatic avoiding any dogmatic approach. Continue reading this article. About the author: In 2001 started up a small firm specialized in infrastructural solutions based on Open Source software. In 2004 launched the first Italian consortium of Open Source SMEs, becoming its president. Collaborates to academy research on Open Source organizational models and on Open Source meta-districts, keeps rubrics and writes articles on ICT magazines. http://robertogaloppini.net | ||||||||
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