In the face of losses in excess of $200 million this quarter, VA
Linux is changing the way it approaches its core software product,
SourceForge, by introducing "closed-source enhancements" as part of
a product it's calling "SourceForge Enterprise Edition":
"Now the Fremont, Calif., company will sell
closed-source enhancements to companies wanting to use the
collaborative programming software, called SourceForge Enterprise
Edition, Chief Executive Larry Augustin said in an interview
Thursday.
While some companies such as Red Hat have stayed with the
open-source philosophy, under which software may be changed,
modified or redistributed by anyone, others such as ArsDigita have
reversed that direction to focus instead on more traditional sales
of proprietary software modules. And Covalent Technologies always
has sold proprietary additions to the open-source Apache
software.
The mixture of open and proprietary software "is a model we saw
a lot of people going to," Augustin said. With VA still backing an
open-source core to SourceForge, "We felt we could still be true to
the open-source roots and at the same time go to a business model
that was proven," he said."
"With its new strategic focus on application software,
VA is developing a commercial SourceForge product, SourceForge
Enterprise Edition (formerly known as "SourceForge OnSite"). As
part of SourceForge Enterprise Edition, VA will be developing
proprietary extensions to SourceForge, including software that
interfaces with VA Linux customers' existing proprietary
applications, as well as other features enabling installation and
integration.
By selling proprietary software together with Open Source
software, VA is making it easier for its enterprise customers to
purchase and deploy SourceForge software. VA Linux will be
distributing SourceForge Enterprise Edition to its corporate
customers under a combination of the Mozilla Public License
(version 1.1) and a proprietary software license.
SourceForge.net users will see virtually no changes. VA Linux
and OSDN will continue to provide free services to the community
through SourceForge.net. Our commitment to SourceForge.net is
stronger than ever, and our goal is to improve quality of service
and functionality to our users."
