Rev/Livecode project and GPL Licenses

[Richard Gaskin]

Mark Schonewille wrote:

> <quote>OpenVZ is free open source software, available under GNU GPL.
>
> OpenVZ is the basis of Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, a commercial virtualization solution offered by Parallels. OpenVZ project is supported by Parallels.</quote> http://wiki.openvz.org/Main_Page
>
> I'm not sure that this is the entire answer, but I do think it is very relevant.

Yes, I would agree:  while most of the money Parallels makes is from the 
sale of proprietary software, their "Parallels Virtuozzo Containers" 
isn't characterized by the company as a for-sale product per se, sold 
under "Support and Services":
<http://www.parallels.com/store/support/virtuozzo/>

This is consistent with what I see with most GPL-governed software:  the 
vendor has no expectations of meeting development costs through sales of 
the compiled object code, but instead sells support and other services 
to meet those expenses, as you noted in an earlier email.

With an IT-focused offering like Virtuozzo Containers that can work 
well.  In fact, Red Hat is well on its way to bringing in more than US$1 
billion this year - not bad for free software. :)

While this often works well for enterprise packages, it can be more 
challenging to find an attractive mix of services priced high enough to 
support the expense of developing a consumer product yet low enough to 
get consumers to actually pay it.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
  LiveCode Journal blog: http://LiveCodejournal.com/blog.irv