If you're a small startup, and you want to build an Open Source project so that you have extra help developing it, you're currently stuck never earning money directly from the product (you're reduced to secondary income from support, consultancy and so on). You might not have the resources to build it all yourself (we don't all live in the Valley and have the ears of investors), and developing your own commercial license is tricky and expensive.
This idea gives you a chance to combine the best of both, and avoid the worst. It also reassures investors that your customers will not be lost in the event your startup fails, because it reverts to an open source project. On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 2:02 PM, cogmission (David Ray) < [email protected]> wrote: > Hmmm. Then I don't see the advantage? It's like having your intellectual > property torn out from under you after 4 years? :P lol! > > On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 7:48 AM, Fergal Byrne <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> No, that's exactly what it says you can't do! You have to go 100% Open >> Source after 2-4 years, you have to monetize before then. On the other >> hand, you can start again with a new major version of your product, but the >> old version will have to have been fully opened up. >> >> On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 1:43 PM, cogmission (David Ray) < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Assuming the business in question is fully able to monetize their >>> initial offering within 4 years, they could then (after being bombed :-P) >>> opt for a full commercial license with full fees. I like it! It offers a >>> way to charge a minimal affordable fee initially while the business model >>> awaits confirmation - while still offering the original rights owner the >>> ability to capitalize later when affordable by the customer. >>> >>> Interesting... >>> >>> On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 7:26 AM, Fergal Byrne < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Hi guys, >>>> >>>> After a wonderful weekend at the hackathon, Richard Crowder and I were >>>> brainstorming as we walked around Manhattan on Monday. We came up with a >>>> new (or new twist on an) idea for dual Open Source/Commercial projects. We >>>> call it the Time-bombed Open License [1]. >>>> >>>> The idea is that you release your software under something strongly >>>> copylefted like the GPL for non-commercial use. For commercial users (who >>>> often can't use GPL software inside their own codebase or business), you >>>> charge a fee to absolve the customer from all the GPL obligations, but with >>>> a catch. >>>> >>>> Your ability to operate the commercial license is time-bombed for 2-4 >>>> years, after which time it becomes fully GPL (or whichever your OSS license >>>> is). This is transitive, so your customers must also start a time-bomb of >>>> the same length. >>>> >>>> We'd welcome feedback on this idea from you guys, and wonder would this >>>> be of interest for Numenta's commercial license for NuPIC? It might also be >>>> worth thinking about for nupic-community projects (this would involve >>>> Numenta granting commercialisation rights to these projects). >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Fergal Byrne >>>> >>>> >>>> [1] http://occupystartups.me >>>> -- >>>> >>>> Fergal Byrne, Brenter IT >>>> >>>> http://inbits.com - Better Living through Thoughtful Technology >>>> http://ie.linkedin.com/in/fergbyrne/ - https://github.com/fergalbyrne >>>> >>>> Founder of Clortex: HTM in Clojure - >>>> https://github.com/nupic-community/clortex >>>> >>>> Author, Real Machine Intelligence with Clortex and NuPIC >>>> Read for free or buy the book at https://leanpub.com/realsmartmachines >>>> >>>> e:[email protected] t:+353 83 4214179 >>>> Join the quest for Machine Intelligence at http://numenta.org >>>> Formerly of Adnet [email protected] http://www.adnet.ie >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> *With kind regards,* >>> >>> David Ray >>> Java Solutions Architect >>> >>> *Cortical.io <http://cortical.io/>* >>> Sponsor of: HTM.java <https://github.com/numenta/htm.java> >>> >>> [email protected] >>> http://cortical.io >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Fergal Byrne, Brenter IT >> >> http://inbits.com - Better Living through Thoughtful Technology >> http://ie.linkedin.com/in/fergbyrne/ - https://github.com/fergalbyrne >> >> Founder of Clortex: HTM in Clojure - >> https://github.com/nupic-community/clortex >> >> Author, Real Machine Intelligence with Clortex and NuPIC >> Read for free or buy the book at https://leanpub.com/realsmartmachines >> >> e:[email protected] t:+353 83 4214179 >> Join the quest for Machine Intelligence at http://numenta.org >> Formerly of Adnet [email protected] http://www.adnet.ie >> > > > > -- > *With kind regards,* > > David Ray > Java Solutions Architect > > *Cortical.io <http://cortical.io/>* > Sponsor of: HTM.java <https://github.com/numenta/htm.java> > > [email protected] > http://cortical.io > -- Fergal Byrne, Brenter IT http://inbits.com - Better Living through Thoughtful Technology http://ie.linkedin.com/in/fergbyrne/ - https://github.com/fergalbyrne Founder of Clortex: HTM in Clojure - https://github.com/nupic-community/clortex Author, Real Machine Intelligence with Clortex and NuPIC Read for free or buy the book at https://leanpub.com/realsmartmachines e:[email protected] t:+353 83 4214179 Join the quest for Machine Intelligence at http://numenta.org Formerly of Adnet [email protected] http://www.adnet.ie
