However, an open source software vendor may choose to duallicense its software. Paidfor versions of the software are then provided under a commercial license like traditional software vendors do. Important open source ruling confirms enforceability of dual licensing and breach of gpl for failing to distribute source code. In other words, it is open to inspection and modification. Im starting a software project that id ultimately like to release as free, opensource and free of charge. Licensing faq the free and open productivity suite. The source code is available and you are responsible for taking the core open source software and. Dual licensing under dual licensing, one software program is made available under the two different distribution mechanisms described above. Dual licensing has since become one of the most common and popular ways to create profit centers around open sourcefree software, in addition to support and services around the product. Through dual licensing of technology, the first three points can be satisfied by choosing the companion license to the gpl.
Dual licensing an important licensing and business strategy in commercial open source software industry. By peter lobrutto dual licensing is an open source business model where a vendor makes its software available both via an open source license and via a different model that may incur. Happily, the days that commercial companies were worried about using open source licensing are long gone. Citeseerx dual licensing in open source software industry. Under this model, a company offers the same software under two different licenses, one that is open source. Dual licensing is an open source business model where a vendor makes its software available both via an open source license and via a fee based model. Here at zenoss, we are an open source software company that utilizes a dual licensing approach. Open source dual licensing two licenses for one product. Important open source ruling confirms enforceability of dual.
Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the open source definition in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. Dual licensing in open source software industry by mikko valimaki. However, the software continues to remain open, ie the source is still available to the end user. This may mean multiple different software licenses or sets of licenses. Jul 16, 2018 dual licensing emerged as an early approach to the open source business model. An important licensing and business strategy in commercial open source software industry. Prefixes may be used to indicate the number of licenses used, e. Thus, an open source license, generally the gpl, is conceded by the software publisher to certain users, whereas others can only profit from a proprietary license. There are many opensource licenses out there which you can add to your project, and these vary mainly in the type of freedom you the licensor are giving to the person who may use your code the user. Dual licensing usually refers to offering software under a proprietary license and an open source license. In theory, dual licensing may lead to other companies starting a competing development project forking using the gpled or other opensource software.
This is also known as the dual license strategy of commercial open source. The duallicensing model gives buzz, ubiquity and developer familiarity on the gpl side and revenue on the proprietary side. Citeseerx document details isaac councill, lee giles, pradeep teregowda. Open source and the commoditization of software by ian murdock 7. Software engineering stack exchange is a question and answer site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle. Disruptive models for a disruptive development process by.
May 01, 2002 the dual licensing model gives buzz, ubiquity and developer familiarity on the gpl side and revenue on the proprietary side. Open source and open standards business models in context by stephen r. The difference between free and opensource software. Under the open sourcepublication mechanism, source code for the software is made available at no cost under license terms that allow third parties to study the software and use it for research. Below are some sources with helpful definitions of key terms, organizational bodies, and historical landmarks related to open source licensing. With dual licensing firms mix traditional and osbased strategies by offering the same software product under both a traditional proprietary license and an open source one. Other companies that offer dual licensing include mysql, sugarcrm, jaspersoft, and alfresco. Here we learn that while the companies may use different free software licenses they all contain a strong copyleft clause limiting the commercial usage. January 2019 licensediscuss summary open source initiative. The second license must be able to specify requirements of compliance, while providing freedom of innovation by requiring that incompatible changes to the standard be openly published as source code. Supporting services are not the only way that an open source business can make money. Researchers probe how and why to dual license open source software, but perhaps focus too much on the proprietary benefits that accrue to the. Dual licensing has proved to be a sustainable business model for various commercial software vendors employing open source strategies.
An important distinction of both free and open source software is that works based on free or open source source code must also be distributed with a. Over the summer of 2005, the osi decided to limit license proliferation and simplify the selection of licenses. Especially the legal and economic requirements of dual licensing are identified. In a dual licensing model, the vendor develops software and offers it under an open source license but also under separate proprietary license terms. Often, individuals or companies distributing software containing commercially valuable, confidential information turn. This means that its software is made available both under an open source licence and under a different licensing scheme that may incur a licence fee.
Clearly, if software is released under an open source licence it is not practicable to charge for the software as your neighbour can give it away for free. In this paper we study the main characteristics of dual. Dual licensing in open source software industry hiit helsinki. The use of dual licensing and the ability to provide superior service for open source are unrelated forms of competitive advantage, and without further circumstances, a business should exploit both advantages. Thus the dual licensing model helps both free software community as well as the. The dual licensing policy sustains innovation as well as growth. Companies whose business center on the development of opensource software employ a. The increasingly popular, strictly qualitycontrolled, duallicensing business model combines the best of the open source and proprietary software worlds to make open source a safe choice for the embedded systems vendors. Dual licensing emerged as an open source business model in the early 2000s, and it typically refers to the release of a software component under two licenses simultaneously. Multilicensing is the practice of distributing software under two or more different sets of terms and conditions. Dual licensing and standards compatibility all source code of the project is dual licensed using the gnu gpl licenses 1 and the sissl. Dual licensing is based on the idea of simultaneous use of both open source and proprietary licenses. From an engineering standpoint, open source means that the source code of a software product is publicly available.
Pdf dual licensing in open source software markets researchgate. Dual licensing in open source software industry by mikko. Oct 30, 2017 free and open source software defines its freedoms through its licensing, while public domain software may adhere to some of the same virtues but does so by falling outside the licensing system. The proprietary version can be licensed to finance the continued development of the free open source version. My software makes use of other free open source software, like markdown released under a bsd license, blueprint css released under an mit license, and others that use various licenses gpl, etc. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies. Opensource software is an alternative to proprietary software.
Everyone in the software development industry is in agreement that open source components are a great resource that helps development teams create great products, faster. How open source became the default business model for software. Aug 19, 2008 dual licenses in open source provide the best of both worlds. Under this model, a company offers the same software under two different licenses, one that is open source, and the. Dual licensing in open source software industry abstract. Open source, dual licensing and software competition. According to a recent gartner report, by 2012 more than 50% of all revenue generated from open source software projects will come from projects under a single vendors patronage, that is, from singlevendor open source. A perspective of open source licensing models for the health. This includes the accountability for the licensed software, professional documentation and technical support expected of a traditional software vendor as well as transparent development, availability of source code and active community inherent in open source projects. Article duallicensing open source business models by heather meeker. My software makes use of other freeopensource software, like markdown released under a bsd. Dual licensing in open source software industry core.
The creation of the open source initiative osi in 1998 has helped shape the landscape of the open source software licensing today. Under what license should i release my source code. Im starting a software project that id ultimately like to release as free, open source and free of charge. Dual licenses in open source provide the best of both worlds. However, in practice, the potential gains from the use of dual licensing as a marketing tool for widespread adoption may outweigh this risk.
In a dual licensing model, the vendor develops software and offers it under an opensource license but also under separate proprietary license terms. To distribute software, commercial vendors of proprietary software have the opportunity to use some dual licensing dl strategy i. Licensing strategy official site the free and open. Researchers probe how and why to dual license open source software, but perhaps focus too much on the proprietary benefits that accrue to the developer of. Aug 07, 2018 open source dual licensing and compliance. Multi licensing is commonly done to support free software business models in a commercial environment. Dual licensing schemes should code be dual licensed under the gpl and a permissive license. Important open source ruling confirms enforceability of. Dual licensing emerged as an early approach to the open source business model. Nov 16, 2004 in theory, dual licensing may lead to other companies starting a competing development project forking using the gpled or other opensource software. Dual licensing has since become one of the most common and popular ways to create profit centers around open source free software, in addition to support and services around the product.
Paper dual licensing in open source software industry by mikko valimaki. How open source became the default business model for. Some argue that duallicensing in commercial open source. In this scenario, one option is a proprietary software license, which allows the possibility of creating proprietary applications derived from it, while the other license is a copyleft free software open source license, thus requiring any derived work to be released under the.
Jun 19, 2007 the art and science of dual licensing. Theres nothing wrong with dual licensing in fact, bruce perens considers dual licensing to be beneficial because it funds the production of more open source software but it is unsurprising that there will be. The use of dual licensing and the ability to provide superior service for open source are unrelated forms of competitive advantage, and without further circumstances, a business. So the gpl is a useful license, i think, nord said. Dual or multiple licensing is a strategy, in which a company develops software, releases it under an continue reading some argue that dual. Participating in an oss project can be a pathway to building a career in software development, allowing programmers to hone. Does dual licensing make it possible for open source software companies to have their cake and eat it too. To be able to bootstrap mysql ab, we originally had a license that allowed free usage, but a payfor license if you used mysql for commercial usage or on the. Under the open sourcepublication mechanism, source. With dual licensing rms mix traditional and osbased strategies by o ering their software product under both a traditional proprietary license and an open source one. Multilicensing and license compatibility for open source.
Important open source ruling confirms enforceability of duallicensing and breach of gpl for failing to distribute source code. There is a very wide variety of open source licenses out there. Our licensing model modern embedded software quantum leaps. Thanks for contributing an answer to software engineering stack exchange. Article how to use open source as a power marketing tool by john koenig. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies sleepycat software inc. This is also known as the duallicense strategy of commercial open source. A perspective of open source licensing models for the. Aug 25, 2016 by peter lobrutto dual licensing is an open source business model where a vendor makes its software available both via an open source license and via a different model that may incur a license fee. Leveraging open source licenses and open source communities in. Software, open source, and copyright licensing office of. Thus the dual licensing model helps both free software community as well as the commercial software licensee.
Disruptive models for a disruptive development process by matthew n. With the open source license, what you see is what you get. The proprietary version can be licensed to finance the. The wikipedia article on open source is a bit inaccurate in that it seems to conflate licensing and collaboration models into the definition of open. The increasingly popular, strictly qualitycontrolled, duallicensing business model combines the best of the open source and proprietary software worlds to make open source a safe choice for the embedded. Notable examples include open core sometimes referred to as dual licensing or multilicensing, software as a service not charging for the software. With dual licensing rms mix traditional and osbased strategies by o ering their software product under both a traditional proprietary license and an open. In the software industry there is a lot of activity around open source, like. Typically, the free open source form is provided under a reciprocal license like the gpl to drive adoption but stall possible competitors. Theres nothing wrong with dual licensing in fact, bruce perens considers dual licensing to be beneficial because it funds the production of more open source software but it is unsurprising that there will be misunderstanding and frustration when dual licensing businesses use free software licenses. Dual licensing in open source software markets sciencedirect.
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