Dual licensing policy zk

DUAL LICENSING POLICY –

NEW WAY FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

Zbynek Krivanek, Karel CharvatCzech Centre for Science and Society, Prague, Czech Republic

Announcement

19. - 21. May 2010IST-Africa 2010 Conference

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This presentation is prepared by persons, who do not usually use Open Source on desktop platform

This presentation is prepared by persons, who are managers of a team which uses open source as a tool of development

This presentation is prepared by persons, who are

managers of a team which publishes part of its development as Open Source

The presentation is prepared by persons, who like many innovative solutions coming from Open Source community

Announcement


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The presentation is prepared by persons, who believe that it is not possible to provide research on the base of commercial software

This presentation is prepared by persons, who

take Open Source for business strategy

Basic Questions


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Who are users of Open Source? Why do people use Open Source? What is the main motivation for using Open

Source? Who are developers of Open Source? Are open source tools for end users or

rather for developers? What is more important - freedom of use or

the right solution? What is more important - Open Source or

interoperability?

Go Further


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Two terms that we have taken into account Knowledge Society Knowledge based economy

Knowledge Society


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It is characteristic of Knowledge societies that knowledge forms a major component of any human activity. Economic, social, cultural, and all other human activities become dependent on a huge volume of knowledge and information.

Knowledge Economy


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Knowledge economy is a term that refers either to an economy of knowledge focused on the production and management of knowledge or to a knowledge-based economy

Key Questions


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Are KS and KE in synergy? Could knowledge society and knowledge

economy coexist? Is knowledge a creative force and is it good? Are we able to find the way for creative force to

support business?

Back to Open Source


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On one hand, relatively good market success of Web based solution

Almost zero acceptance of Open Source desktop GIS solution by general public (non FOSS community, consisting mainly of young people and people from academic communities)

Open Source software starts to play more and more important role on the market of geospatial solution, on the other hand, even now you can still very often hear the argument that Open Source software is not suitable for large projects

Humboldt SWOT Analysis


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Open Source platform for end-users Commercial/Closed Source platform for end-users Open Source for commercial business

development Analysis from point of view of a manager of

company developing Open Source

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH of OS for End Users


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It is for free (no fees, no maintenance cost) Usually open code (source) allows legal changes Wide and good (voluntary!) support and

developing by communities across the globe As a result of the above said, the final code is

usually stable and of good quality Fast accessibility of the new solutions and

updates which reflect any change of circumstances

Free (or inexpensive) licence acquisition and management

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH of OS for End Users


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Independence on any kind of company strategy or business plans

Under given licence possibility of redistribution Easy adaptation of the open source framework to the

specific needs and programming of additional extensions (modules)

Approx. 50% cost reduction in comparison to the paid software

Well known open source code is much easier to understand and grasp by a new programmer in case of a personnel change

Quick Release Rate Parallel Development and Debugging Long Term Accessibility Many open plugins and extensions

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS of OS for End Users


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Simply, the support is on voluntary basis and may be insufficient

Limited development possibilities The development without any control or

management As a result of the previously said, it is hard to guide

the process towards EU strategy or basically towards our expectations or needs

The product is for free, but the support can sometimes be paid and in case of any problems it is quite expensive

May not be stable or cause problems and instability with certain hardware

Could be more difficult to grasp by end users (front end application can be confusing…)

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS of OS for End Users


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Uncertain timeline of development and releasing of new versions

In case of any specific needs it has to be „tailored“ by commercial company and can be expensive

Sometimes the documentation is missing and training of a new staff may be difficult

There is no guarantee and no warranty claim Lack of “Ownership” Because of open solution, it is hard to be original The stuff must be really skilled May not comply with required standards

ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES of OS for End Users


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Open solutions aren’t usually suitable for critical solutions as they cannot handle the large data sets or bulk amount of operations

Openness of source solutions offers wider cooperation and space to create new business opportunities

There are already a few examples of successful stories (Linux OS is used at the municipal authority Domažlice, Ostrava)

Due to the open society of developers the new practices are easier and faster speeded around

Should be aimed at the non-profit (no critical) sector and state/municipal authorities

ANALYSIS OF THREATS of OS for End Users


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No guarantee of technical support Sometimes the linkage to another solutions is missing Some commercial companies don’t allow to implement the

open solution into their software framework There can be a compatibility issue regarding the file formats

(e.g. MS Office/Open Office) As already mentioned above, the stuff must be more skilled Many different types of free licences. Sometimes it is hard to

follow their rules Lack of Compatible Applications Problems with patents More possible security risk (hackers or data loss/damage) and

bugs Development can easily be stopped without explanation or

development objectives can be changed

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH Commerce Platform for Final Users


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There is usually clear technological linkage Worldwide support Competitive offer for each „family“ of products

which makes the price lower Substitutability of the programming stuff Training provided according to the end user needs All should be done under obvious and clear

conditions between software company and end users who can control the whole developing process

The development is well aimed and has its time frame defined

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ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH Commerce Platform for Final Users


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in case of any problem it can be claimed back It should always fulfil all the given requirements (if

provided to the programmer in advance) In case of long-time solutions (typically OS) , maintenance

cost is rather cheap There is a wide offer of verified tools Strong leadership Good skills Large installed base or market share in operating systems

and application software Large reserves of cash – it means it can grow very quickly

through acquisition and also buy up new technologie

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS Commerce Platform for Final Users


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All depends on the budget Not free of course High purchase cost Expensive training High cost for additional features, especially for

some local (extra ordinal) additions Some minor customers may be unable to enforce

their own demands on some specific features in widely used software

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS Commerce Platform for Final Users


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Sometimes it is impossible to arrange direct cooperation between software developer and end user – in this case the only way is to hire external integrating company, which used to be very expansive

Time consuming claiming of a guarantee of „ boxed“ software

Kind of addiction to the chosen software platform Proprietary Software – code not open Being large sometimes makes it difficult to move

quickly Revenue model does not result in sustainable growth –

once a product has been sold that is it, the only way to make more money is by selling upgrades

ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES Commerce Platform for Final Users


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References Covers all the sectors – private and also public Solution that suits to the so called „boxed“ software Users’ reactions New revenue models such as renting software

ANALYSIS OF THREATS Commerce Platform for Final Users


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Support may not always be 100% There could not be linkage to the solutions of other

companies Difficult and expensive implementation of different

solutions or extensions The development can also be stopped for many

reasons Open Source Movement – means that most software

will become free and delivering good service will be where the money comes from.

DOJ (Department of Justice). (Microsoft is perceived by the United States Government as being a monopoly. This means its every move is being watched. )

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH

for Application Developers


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There is no need to pay either for the software or for possible support

End user can influence the development or simply address the programmer with specific remarks

There is a chance to take part in the development process, be it only helping with the translation or something similar

Usually the open softwares are written in such a way that every skilled person can change them freely and easily, they are highly configurable

Programs are usually made with emphasis on the backwards compatibility, new releases are fully compatible with the older versions

There is „social“ network around the developers and among the end users

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH

for Application Developers


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There is a wide offer of many different programs for each specific need, end users have free choice of the program which suits them best

Programs usually use well known standards and don’t come with their own new standards

Source code is repeatedly reviewed and cached by the community, therefore the probability of a failure is very low

Typically, there are many minor releases during the year, so that the end user can always use fresh update of the program

There is still the possibility to use developer’s version as well as it can be automatically updated a few times a day if needed

The programs are well documented Usually there is a guarantee that the original license

will not be changed in the future

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS for Application Developers


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The end user has to find the suitable program among the others and it can be time consuming

For many users it used to be difficult to switch to the open source platform, especially concerning the operating systems and their administration

As a result of the previously said, there are still commercial OS prevailing on the workstations. There can be difficulties with communication with the environment especially in the domain of exchange formats. But this point is being solved by implementing some kind of exchange filters (released as an open source).

Sometimes it is hard to make the commercial product working on given computer configuration (e.g. Skype or RealPlayer can not be used on a PC with processor amd64)

ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES for Application Developers


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A program can be found fully suiting the end user’s needs

The end user can be engaged directly in the development and leave his own „footprint“ there

Sometimes the program can be very simple and the end user can easily grasp how it works

User can just cut off the usable part of the code and starts his own project on this

It is possible to use a source code from another project if both licenses allow that

ANALYSIS OF THREATS for Application Developers


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There is still a chance that we will not ever find the right program which suits to our needs

It has never happened that somebody makes an absolutely suitable program for us

The development is stopped without anybody willing to continue

There is still a threat of unsolved question of the software patents

Even if you encounter the right program, the documentation is missing

The pressure of the company environment makes the user comeback to the „closed“ commercial platform

ANALYSIS OF STRENGTH for Commercial Company Developing OS


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If the right license is used, you can use some parts of source code from other open projects and not try to invite already working solutions..

If the development group is being split apart (so called „fork“, see bellow) , you can gather the code from the another group without problems

ANALYSIS OF WEAKNESS

for Commercial Company Developing OS


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According to the open philosophy, it is hard to get some fees for the program usage

It is necessary to change the business mode. The source of money revenue is not primarily program sale, but additional services

The users are sometimes quite ungrateful or even rude, so that it is hard to deal with them

ANALYSIS OF OPPORTUNITIES for Commercial Company Developing OS


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If the project is really interesting, many external developers, translators and contributors will join it for free as well as the community of testers, who contribute to the quality of the final product

Affordable software of course attracts the end users

The program can become the so called „killer“ which means that the application which is being considered as a standard application for the given solution may force the user to change to this platform

ANALYSIS OF THREATS for Commercial Company Developing OS


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The group can split apart with all the source codes and find the new company, so called „fork“. This is mainly caused by personal arguments inside a team. Or simply, a rival company can take over the development and introduce the business plan better.

- It can happen that a very important developer leaves the company and the right substitution won’t be found. The reason for this (leaving the company) may be even very ridicule.

Conclusion from SWOT analysis


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End users usually see only one advantage of OS, they don’t need to pay.

With Web application it is relative, because end users are usually not able to manage any solution without commercial companies

OS is probably the best solution for developers of final applications (but there is the problem that such developers frequently don’t contribute to OS development). To some extent they can be considered parasites. No GPL license will solve this problem, this firm will use non GPL products or they will find a solution to minimize their contribution

Conclusion from SWOT analysis


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It is not easy to find the right strategy for commercial developers of OS

The business models and licenses are not easy It is difficult to protect one’s own know-how

against big predators There is an important question: when you open

your software, you can profit from a community, if your position is strong

Open Source will never win without strong support of commercial organizations

Open Source could be a good opportunity for small businesses, if they are able to build a community and collaborate

Some Ideas about GPL License


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The main question is, if GPL license really helps to strengthen the position of Open Source on the market

The basic idea behind GPL license is to push people to opening their solution (virus license), but usually it doesn’t work

It could be limitating for strong players on the market to use this software

GPL is ideal solution for companies as a part of dual license. It could protect interest of developers, but in principle it offers possibility for commercial utilization

The best example seems to be GeoServer

Thank you for your attention


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I am ready to answer your questions and comments, but I would like to ask you about some of my ideas.

[email protected]

Dual licensing policy zk

Technology

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