We just finished at board meeting where I quoted this post and your previous
post.
We came to the conclusion:
We let the IceBreak source be 100% open to any body! - no price, no service
contract required...
Open as in open. So you have to sign up so we know who has access to the
source - but that?s it.
The reason is:
Why would anyone bother to make pirate copies if it is 100% free available?
Why would anyone build a "new" IceBreak, based on IceBreak if you can
download a binary distribution for free...
My guess is - nobody.. And to the dudes that have the courage: Be my guest.
The source code it so close bound to the system i and to OS specific stuff
to make IceBreak do what it does. So I guess - no interest from windows
land.
And another bonus: It seams that IBM have been picking our brains since 2006
- so now we maybe can have a little endorsement instead of the "picking"
fealing.
We are still cooking on details, but how does that sound so far?
-----Original Message-----
From: web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:web400-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Ralph Daugherty
Sent: 13. juni 2008 02:17
To: Web Enabling the AS400 / iSeries
Subject: Re: [WEB400] IceBreak goes OS (Open Source)
P.S. changed subject header per Leif's suggestion.
Niels, I don't know the particulars of what license will do this, but
I believe the way around it is a source license that does not allow
redistribution. In a way it is licensed source to each entity that
downloads, let's say at a minimum they have to register and click an
EOLA that specifies that, and a minimal business transaction that
establishes identity and legitimacy bona fides (i.e. Paypal or credit
card transaction).
Even with open source, fees of this nature are totally legitimate for
services rendered to make the download available. But as the board says,
you want to at least deal with licensed customers, business partners,
who have licensed the source. They of course could be in violation of
the contract if they gave the source to others, but so could Platinum
support customers, although less likely with more skin in the game.
On the other hand, if anyone can get the source with a minimal
business transaction with you, there isn't that big a deal in obtaining
a pirated copy. The beauty of the open source model is that if someone
did steal critical code from it, they could only sell as closed source.
What, to do the same thing you're doing with open source? The market
share will go to the software customers that can trust, the open source.
A license that forbids redistribution would keep it off any legitimate
open source repositories with a request from you to remove it, and it is
focused on the iseries, so Windows script kiddies aren't going to be
interested anyway, so I think the only concern is someone making a
competing product with your intellectual property, and open source
trumps them at that.
However, maybe source is overstated here for the larger goal,
customers and marketshare. Maybe free implementations without source is
just fine for many customers and gets to the Platinum support and source
code when they find it meets their needs, I don't know.
But I personally don't think the dynamics will change that much
because customers have an aversion to loading "who knows what" on their
box and giving it a try. They really need to have the source and compile
it for dynamics to change.
And the interesting thing is that licensed source to them, and them
only, but with a minimal business transaction, say a $25 packaging fee,
completely does away with problems business has with traditional open
source licenses such as GPL. It would really be a good business model I
think, if you could do it.
rd
Niels Liisberg wrote:
Hi Ralph;
Thanks for your input.
I was almost saying the same as you Ralph - earlier this morning to the
board of director's meeting.
But I was voted down on that one.
The rationale was (something like):
"If people want to use IceBreak for free and have access to the source,
at least they have to be our ambassadors and become our business
partners. Then they can have it all for free. The door swings both ways".
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