My friend Andrew Lampitt of Jaspersoft crafted a new term that I think makes a lot of sense for the commercial open source business model that vendors like Talend, Jaspersoft and several other embody.

In his post, Open-Core Licensing (OCL): Is this Version of the Dual License Open Source Business Model the New Standard?, Andrew addresses many valid reasons for adopting this term - the most important of all, I believe, being that the dual licensing term many vendors are using is both ambiguous and emotionally charged.  Ambiguous (but not in a malicious way!), because Open-Core Licensing goes beyond granting different licenses (GPL and commercial) for the same source code depending on whether or not it is embedded in commercial software.  Emotionally charged - well, just look back at the controversy that arose from Marten Mickos’ announcements at the MySQL Conference, back in April.

Matt Aslett from The 451 Group has been calling this approach the Split Licensing approach.  I prefer the Open-Core Licensing term - and so does Matt, apparently.

To summarize how Andrew defines Open-Core Licensing: there is a “core” open source product that is GPL, and there is also additional high-value available as add-on features for purchase.

Andrew goes further by describing the associated business model:

So I propose the following for the OCL business model:
- core is GPL: if you embed the GPL in closed source, you pay a fee
- technical support of GPL product may be offered for a fee (up for debate as to whether it must be offered)
- annual commercial subscription includes: indemnity, technical support, and additional features and/or platform support. (Additional commercial features having viewable or closed source, becoming GPL after timebomb period are both up for debate).
- professional services and training are for a fee

Sounds familiar?  This is the description of Talend’s business model (services & support on the GPL products,  subscription licenses of the enterprise product, and OEM commercial licenses for closed-source vendors who want to embed our technology).  But this is also a description of Jaspersoft’s business model (no surprise here), and of SugarCRM’s, and of Zimbra’s, and even maybe of MySQL’s…

I suspect this OCL concept is going to stir more discussion, that will lead to refining the model even further, and also heated debates on several of the issues addressed here.  But positive criticism is good, and helps us move forward.

Anyway, thanks Andrew for crafting this term and opening up the debate.

Yves