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. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies sleepycat software. This paper analyses how several open source companies use dual licensing. Dual licensing allows software companies to provide their products for either commercial or open source development. 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. This is especially the case with libraries that are often used in the development of other open source or closed source. Citeseerx dual licensing in open source software markets. However, an open source software vendor may choose to duallicense its. This type of software licensing can be advantageous in that it provides you with options. Open source software can be licensed in three ways. This new license offers an alternative to the closed source and open core licenses that many startups choose for their software, and, for the first time, wideniuss new company, mariadb, is. Dual licensing is based on the idea of simultaneous use of both open source and proprietary licenses.
While dual licensing is a broad subject, which can be applied in various ways, this guide will focus on a permissivecopyleft dual licensing. Open source dual licensing is an open source business model under which vendors make their software available via both open source licenses and under a different model where a fee is involved. In this paper we present a theoretical model to study the characteristics and the commercial sustainability of a particular open source strategy known as dual licensing. What dual licensing means in terms of computer software. Artifex for breach of contract and infringement claims against defendant hancom, inc. Dual licensing in open source software industry abstract. The impetus behind dual licensing comes from a desire to find ways of making money from free software other than simply by providing services. Full commercial software with support and expectations, or full open source for commercial and non commercial alike. Our licensing model modern embedded software quantum leaps. The increasingly popular, strictly qualitycontrolled, dual licensing 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. Oracle provides its mysql database server and mysql client libraries under a dual license model designed to meet the development and distribution needs of both commercial distributors such as oems, isvs and vars and open source projects. Is dual licensing a software that contains gpl programs.
That is why all the popular free open source software applications will always remain free open source software. The common understanding defines dual licensing as the simultaneous licensing of software under both open source and proprietary licenses. This includes the accountability for the licensed software, professional documentation and technical support expected of a traditional software vendor as well as transparent. Open source dual licensing two licenses for one product. However, the software continues to remain open, ie the source is still available to the end user.
Mysql founder tries a new software licensing model. Especially the legal and economic requirements of dual licensing. Dual licensing when you have a software, there are two ways you can license it, either under a copyleft. In a dual licensing model, the vendor develops software and offers it under an open source license but also under separate proprietary license terms. Thus the dual licensing model helps both free software community as well as the commercial software licensee. Important open source ruling confirms enforceability of.
Open source, mysql, and trademarks open source initiative. Qt for application development is duallicensed under commercial and open source licenses. Three case studies based on the experiences of companies sleepycat software inc. Pdf dual licensing has proved to be a sustainable business model for various commercial software vendors employing open source. Socalled dual licencing are popular in the commercial field, where companies want to involve the community but want to retain the on the whole software. Dual licensing usually refers to licensing software under both a proprietary license and an open source license, typically the gpl. With dual licensing, a firm releases the same software product under both a traditional proprietary license and an open source one. Customers may prefer a nocost and open source edition for testing, evaluation, proof of concept development, and small scale deployment.
The software, referred to as ghostscript, was dual. Oems original equipment manufacturers, isvs independent software. Open source licenses allow software to be freely used, modified, or shared. 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. Dual license with gpl and a closed source license software. Dual licensing in open source software markets sciencedirect. 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. Pdf dual licensing in open source software markets researchgate.
Not criticizing anything, just letting you know how the licensing would affect my decision to use your software. In this paper we present a theoretical model to study the characteristics and the commerciai sustainability of dual licensing, an open source os business strategy that has gained popularity among software vendors. The holder of the of a program can release it under the terms of more than one licence. Any successful dual license oss project i can use as template.
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. I would like them to acknowledge any code used by them from my project as deriving from my work and would require them to keep their derivative work open source. With dual licensing, a firm releases the same software product under both a traditional proprietary license and an open. If you are thinking along commercial, proprietary or closed source. The proprietary version can be licensed to finance the continued development of the free open source version. A more accurate definition is that dual licensing is simply the licensing of one software.
Open source licensing is a way to give back to developer communities and help technology grow at an exponentially faster pace. Sometimes, owners of open source software license their works under several licenses to allow its recipients for larger scope of distribution. Dual licensing has proved to be a sustainable business model for various commercial software vendors employing open source strategies. While this may seem like a conflicting approach, it has become a popular means by which licensors gain the economic benefits associated with commercial licensing while leveraging the community benefits associated. This includes the accountability for the licensed software, professional documentation and technical support expected of a traditional software. We show that the decision to employ a dual licensing. In general, if the option is a gplmit dual license you would usually pick gpl if you want to create an open source derivative be aware, any derivative made of a gpl software must distribute both the binaries and the source code. Eiffel software uses a dual licensing model for eiffelstudio. The practical problem with dual licensing is only owners can do it, so unless a company somehow holds the of every single author, it is usually practically impossible to get permission to dual license. Open source licenses are licenses that comply with the open source definition in brief, they allow software to be freely used, modified, and shared. To be approved by the open source initiative also known as the osi, a license must go through the open source. Dual licensing examples of dual licensing practises.
In this paper we study the main characteristics of dual. The project is open source, so i want others to make use of it as well, but i dont want them to create derivative works with closedsource licenses. Dual licensing means you keep the same code, under two different licenses. One of our offers is released under the gnu general public license gpl version 2 open source. The common understanding defines dual licensing as the simultaneous licensing of software under both opensource and proprietary licenses. The project is open source, so i want others to make use of it as well, but i dont want them to create derivative works with closed source licenses. I have seen that there is a question about gpl and dual licensing, but i know copyleft can behave different depending on the shape of the software. I would like them to acknowledge any code used by them from my project as deriving from my work and would require them to keep their derivative work open source as well. Dual licensing when you have a software, there are two ways you can license it, either under a copyleft license and proprietary license. Citeseerx dual licensing in open source software industry. This is explicitly stated in what was probably the first such dual.
Dual licensing in open source software markets core. Singlevendor commercial open source firms build their business around an open source software project that they. The dual licensing policy sustains innovation as well as growth. Thoughts about duallicensing open source software history the first example of dual licensing was probably ghostscript, which peter deutsch licensed first under the gpl and later under the aladdin free public license, but also under a proprietary license.