Open Core Is Bad For You

“The open core model is being feted as the new default open
source business model. But I assert it does not deliver and sustain
the principle that delivers cost savings and flexibility to the
customer – software freedom. As a consequence, businesses who
live-or-die by open core risk the fate of Compiere ERP unless they
can manage the incredibly delicate balance their customers will
discover they demand.

“When I spoke at the Transfer Summit in Oxford last week, I
invited the delegates to join me in reforming the Open Source
Initiative (OSI). I repeated the explanation I made here, that OSI
needs to be rebuilt in the light of a re-projection of software
freedom for a new decade. In articulating the challenges facing
open source after ten years of success, I asserted – as I usually
do – that “open core” is one of the big challenges facing open
source. This surprised some delegates.”

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