Jivespace: Jive Talks: Our Open Source Philosophy

With the release of the Enterprise Edition of Wildfire, I wanted to put forth our thoughts on why we do Open Source software, and how our OSS projects will co-exist with our commercial applications. We have posted this to the .org website as well.

Summary: Our goal is to create the de-facto standard for open, real-time communications. We aim to achieve this goal by providing an elegant, flexible, open solution, suitable for any implementation security, scalability, reliability and performance, at little or no cost.

Why do we create Open Source software?

We believe in the Open Source movement and its power to fundamentally improve the software landscape.
We believe in the potential of XMPP and seek to increase its adoption.
Open Source communities are a powerful mechanism for continuously improving applications through development, testing and feedback.
We prefer to spend our money on activities that help our customers (development, QA) rather than activities that have no value for our customers (e.g. advertising).

Why do we create commercial applications?

Our commercial applications provide the funds required to support the OSS project. We see it as the air that the OSS projects need to breathe, since it would not be sustainable on its own.
There is a healthy, symbiotic relationship between the Open Source and commercial applications, and continuous communication between the company, customers and community keeps it healthy.
Some organizations are wary of the open-source license requirements and need alternative licensing models.
As a business, we need to grow to stay competitive commercial applications allow us to achieve this goal.

How do we balance the Open Source and Commercial applications?

The OSS project will <ins>always</ins> represent a "complete solution", which means it will always have the key features required to fit its purpose (and beyond). This means we will not arbitrarily add what most would consider "core features" into commercial editions.

What features will go into commercial extensions?

Features to support mission-critical rollouts, such as server clustering
Embedded third-party applications (non-Open Source)
High-end, luxury features, such as enhanced reporting
Advanced security features, such as deeper archiving options
Features for unique use cases, such as customer "click to chat" support

How do we make money?

Services: Support services and professional services (consulting) to customize, integrate and implement the applications.
Commercial applications: Sales of commercial applications that are based on, or extend, the Open Source offerings.
OEM Licensing: License fees for embedding the Wildfire server into other 3rd party applications.

Our Commitment

We will live out the values of the Open Source movement to the best of our abilities.
We will act responsibly and in the best interests of our community.
We will be responsive to the needs of the community and communicate proactively.

1,292 Views Tags: planet-jabber, business, eim

Add a comment Leave a comment on this blog post.

Aug 20, 2007 4:55 PM

Elliott Clark says:

This is a great philsophy. And makes for a company that is worth every penny.

wroot says:

I think most of Jive Community members really appreciate your involvement in OSS (me too). So thanks a lot.

The only thing that could confuse. It's when members' suggestions are implemented in commercial product instead of open source one.

Simon Johnson says:

Having just used your Linux version I can say that the GPL version is world class.

I installed it and it worked with minimal set-up.

You should put a DONATE button on your site so that people like me can show our appreciation for the product!

Simon.

djhersh says:

Thanks for the nice comments. Much appreciated.

Regarding community member suggestions: It's a great point and one that will probably never be completely clear. In some cases, we may have already discussed it internally (i.e. it's not a new idea), and we will try to handle that accordingly. In some cases it will be a great idea that is only relevant for enterprise-type usage -- in this situation, we would work to make sure the person who had the idea felt okay with the decision as well as thank them somehow for the contribution. Hopefully it won't come up too often, but we will definitely try to handle it responsibly.

Tom Toy says:

Your goal to create the de-facto standard for open, real-time communications sounds somewhat familiar to another local company called Immunix, Inc. (purchased by Novell in May 2005).

From my understanding they took a slightly different route that was very well accepted by the OS community. To promote acceptance they submitted a new Immunix core host-based Linux security API.

Their API leveled the playing field for all security vendors wanting to supply security solutions to the Linux OS. Immunix was ahead of much bigger competitors.

Their OS product, AppArmor, was a big success and led to the Novell acquisition. AppArmor Linux application security has no licensing feels. Novell makes money on services surrounding AppArmor.

Of course Immunix made money being acquired by Novell but details of the actual transaction were not made public.

Nathan Palmer says:

I'm a big fan of the Open Source movement because the resulting software is free and at a very distant second is that I'm a developer and I can modify the source. But what I'm really interested to hear is if a commerical company can be built around and sustained with an open source product. It seems interesting to me and almost "unproven" as many open source companies have gone under. The baffling concept is that how can you make money when your product is free. Of course eventhough I would rather set things up on my phone and figure it out.. many companies would pay to have it done and I'm sure you get some business that way.

I assume that it is working out ok financially for your company?

One thing I do admire about Jive Software is the friendlyness of the employees. When I submitted a couple of patches to Wildfire Matt and Gaston were extremely helpful.

Thanks. Wildfire hasn't been successful financially on its own, but with the release of Enterprise, we hope to get there quickly. I think OSS projects that focus on larger parts of the stack may be able to succeed without commercial offerings (through services, etc.), but it's extremely difficult to pull of at the application level....unless you keep it to a few people working at night :).

Jive Talks

Our Open Source Philosophy

Post a comment

Popular Blog Posts

Jive Tweets

We're also on: