Re: [Bacula-devel] [Bacula-users] Request for help

[Kern Sibbald]

I do not remember ever saying that forks are bad, though somewhat jokingly I wrote a blog "Not all Forks are Bad", which should convey the idea that I am not particularly in favor of forking (i.e. starting a new project) in most cases.  Note, I use the word fork in the original sense of creating a new project while git people typically use the word fork these days to mean "make some changes" as probably 99.9% of git forks are really just patches to the original and not a new project. I have heard the arguments about me blogging about Bareos being bad for Bacula and just advertising Bareos, and though there is something there, I think the advantages of telling people the truth outweigh the disadvantages of solely hearing very well crafted spin-doctoring from Bareos. If you look at the Bacula Systems vs Bareos lawsuit from the point of view of the Bacula Systems board of directors, which is responsible for assuring the salaries of quite a few people including the open source "fanatic" founders (6 of the 8), you might understand that when someone steals code that differentiates (short term) Bacula Enterprise from Bacula community, which is what permits those employees to live, you will understand that Bacula Systems had no choice. To do nothing would have been a blank check to steal even more code.  Unfortunately, there are very few open source companies that survive only on improving the product and selling services -- the world does not (yet) work that way.  Open core companies can, however, survive if they work very hard, and most open core companies contribute back to the community. Best regards, Kern On 01.02.2015 20:46, Ben Erridge wrote: I doubt my opinion holds much weight either way but if you want my opinion here it is; As anyone would expect both sides say the other one is lying about many things. I can only assume, at this point, the truth lies somewhere in between.  With that said I think this lawsuit only hurts Bacula. I never even heard of Bareos until this lawsuit came up. Then I started reading about it all over the place. Including a bunch of nonsense out of the Bacula camp like, “If you use Baroes software, Bacula will sue you” and “Braching is bad for open source”. All that really put a bad taste in my mouth about Bacula, especially because I could Identify with things the Bareos camp was saying like, “Bacula isn't updating the open source project” which was certainly true. Along with the fact that I find this whole open core model to be distasteful and anit-opensource in general. No Windows client binaries available without paying Bacula Systems for them for how long? Most of this has no real baring on the cases merit But I think everything that has happened has hurt Bacula's reputation significantly and will likely hurt the project more than it will help the project if the lawsuit is successful. If the lawsuit fails then Bacula looks even worse. Also, while this lawsuit is carrying on, it only spotlights the fact that there isn't a really good open source competitor which will undoubtedly kick start numerous projects. (Not sure that is a bad thing but it is definitely bad for Bacula Systems) I think if Bacula would have moved on and just focused on making a better product and selling services they would have continued to be the de facto standard backup solution on Linux for a long time. That is my humble opinion. I truly wish you the best and I certainly do not condone the stealing of code. Ben On Sun, Feb 1, 2015 at 12:51 PM, Kern Sibbald <k...@sibbald.com> wrote: Hello, You are entitled to your opinion, but I find that such opinions don't carry as much weight as they would if you give some reason for it. My reason is simple: Bacula Systems has spent quite a lot of money (over $1 Million) paying salaries to develop code for Bacula Enterprise.  It has given a very large chunk of that code (somewhere between 50-80%) back to the community and will give much more over time.  One of the persons involved in the lawsuit took proprietary code developed by Bacula Systems and released it in the public Bareos git repository without authorization.  He apparently has in his possession something around an additional 100,000 lines of proprietary code that he could also release. I have devoted most of my time since 1998 to open source and spent 15 years developing the Bacula community version, which is 100% open source, and by creating up Bacula Systems, much more code than I could ever create alone will be contributed to the Bacula community project. I believe that anyone who steals proprietary code and releases it publicly through an open source fork (Bareos) has very poor ethical standards and is damaging the whole open source community. Best regards, Kern On 01.02.2015 18:33, Ben Erridge wrote: As a former Bacula user I would like to express that I do not support this lawsuit.  On Sat, Jan 31, 2015 at 12:26 PM, Kern Sibbald <k...@sibbald.com> wrote: Hello, I don't usually as for help on these lists, because I feel I am here to build something for you (Bacula) and serve you rather than the other way around.  If that intrigues you, please read on ... The first hearing for the Bacula Systems vs Bareos lawsuit is coming up the 9th of February. I am sending this to everyone on the Bacula lists.  You may not be a developer or a contributor, but as a Bacula user you can still show your support for the Bacula project by filling out and sending in (scan + email) an FLA. The issues are described below -- basically Bareos, which is without any legal standing is nevertheless attacking my and thus Bacula Systems right to have a proprietary version of Bacula.  If Bareos wins, it may signal the end of the Bacula open source project as you have known it for the last 15 years, because the major contributor to the Bacula community version is Bacula Systems, and Bacula Systems would no longer be in a position to contribute to the Bacula project. Please help the Bacula project by printing, signing, and sending the attached FLA to me by post, or by scanning it and sending it by email as an attachment (all pages, please). More details: Unfortunately since Bareos forked the Bacula code myself, Bacula, and Bacula Systems have been challenged by a former Bacula developer who says I misled him in signing the FLA as he did in May of 2010. He claims that he did not know I intended to take Bacula into the Enterprise market with proprietary code. Furthermore, he claims (with no real basis, in my opinion) that I do not have FLAs from everyone who contributed and that the project must start as a dual licensed project (totally untrue).  Note, Bacula Systems was formed in 2008, but dual licensing only started in the 2011-2012 time frame. Concerning Bacula Systems having a proprietary version of Bacula, as you probably know the FSFE, Bacula Systems and me representing the Bacula community have recently (Sept 2013) signed an agreement where the features developed by Bacula Systems for fee paying customers will be migrated overtime into the community version (many are migrated in the next community version). In fact, since 2008, Bacula Systems has been by far the major contributor of code to the Bacula community version by far. By creating Bacula Systems and signing the agreement with the FSFE, I have found a way to ensure the sustainability of Bacula community from fees paid for by enterprise clients that permit implementing new Bacula Enterprise features that will flow back to the community version. For me, this ensures a bright future for Bacula both in the Enterprise market and in the community, and obviously I am very happy about it. All my plans for the future of Bacula could go up in smoke because according to Bareos and this former Bacula developer, in May of 2010 when I solicited a number of FLAs, I was not explicit enough in saying that Bacula Systems could develop a proprietary version. Obviously I believe this is ridiculous.  I would be surprised, but if you believe that I mislead you or the community at any time, I am very sorry, and I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you think. For the above reasons, we are asking everyone who contributed to sign an FLA, otherwise, because of Bareos and this former developer we may be required to remove or rewrite contributions for which we do not have a more current FLA. For the future of Bacula, I would really appreciate it if you would fill out, sign, and send the new FLA version 7.0, attached to this email, to me by post or scanned copy. This will ensure that I hold a clear and valid copyright for everything and that Bacula and Bacula Systems can continue to grow. This request is very unusual, but your participation would be a very nice vote of confidence.  In addition, if you have ever contributed anything -- even something very small where we do not usually require an FLA, it would be even a more significant help to the Bacula project. Being a programmer myself, I know that this administration stuff is unpleasant. If you have questions see below ... Thank you for your contribution(s) to and/or support for the Bacula project. Best regards, Kern Bacula Project Manager Q: I don't understand the FLA. A: Yes, it has a number of technical points and lots of words to make sure there is no problems due to different laws in different countries, and to avoid problems of possible multiple versions.  The basic points for the Bacula project are:   1. You wrote some code/documentation/other and you contributed it to      the Bacula project.   2. In order for the Bacula project and Bacula Systems to be able to      use the code, you assign the copyright to me (Kern Sibbald).   3. I then give back to you a license to use your code as you want.   4. Bottom line, we can both legally use the code. Q: I already signed an FLA is this one necessary? A: Yes, more than ever, because it shows your support for Bacula and me, and without it I may need to re-write your contribution, which would be a set back for the community. Q: I already signed one with the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), won't signing this one be a conflict? A: The attached FLA is written to permit signing both agreements without conflict. Q: I don't think my contribution is important enough to warrant an FLA. A: Strictly speaking if you contributed only a couple lines or a simple fix, that is probably true, but I have learned that with legal matters it is better to be safe than sorry, and more than anything else, it shows your support and solidarity with Bacula and myself. Q: I am too busy. A: Yes, I understand that. I am too busy to hassle you for this, but I am doing it to cover all bases possible to keep the community and Bacula Systems working to continue to develop and improve Bacula even when I retire from the project. Q: I don't have a scanner. A: Please send it by post, or take a pictures of all the pages with your mobile telephone (or camera) and email them to me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dive into the World of Parallel Programming. The Go Parallel Website, sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/ _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list bacula-us...@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users -- Benjamin Erridge -- Benjamin Erridge

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Dive into the World of Parallel Programming. The Go Parallel Website,
sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your
hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought
leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a
look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/
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