No such thing as a stupid question David, just the ones you don't ask! This is a (barely) 4-day old idea, so it'll have wrinkles. Please test to destruction.
On Fri, Jun 5, 2015 at 2:07 PM, Fergal Byrne <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > -- 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
