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Well there are two sides to every encounter like this one,
perhaps someone from Slim Devices will respond. All I can say is that Slim
has spent an enormous amount of time developing the Slim Server and now is
seeing it used in multiple competitive products. While this is completely
allowable by terms of the GPL you would expect these companies to at least give
some credit to the folks that have spent thousands of hours developing this
software.
It's companies creating competing products built on the
backs of the folks doing a GPL project that gives open source software a bad rap
in the industry and stunts the development of open source
software.
My corporation is struggling with the idea of making some
of our software open source, but we definitely have concerns about someone
repackaging our software and then selling super cheap knockoff hardware to go
with it, stealing our market.
I've seen several questions about MP3beamer (http://www.mp3beamer.com) on the list I
thought I'd address.
Q: Is MP3beamer just re-badged slimserver?
A:
MP3beamer is a suite of products. The server component of MP3beamer does share
some code with slimserver but it is a different product with some unique
features. Some of the unique features are ability to stream songs with remote
iTunes listeners, auto-rip CDs, one click installation and setup, control
application, UPnP support, and remote syncing. You'll find screenshots of most
of these at: http://mp3beamer.com/screenshots.html
There
are actually several pieces of software which make up the MP3beamer
experience. MP3beamer comes with Linspire, an ultra-easy desktop Linux
operating system which makes it easy to setup and maintain a MP3beamer
machine. Linspire installs in about 5-10 minutes and makes MP3beamer
installation a very quick process via CNR (click-n-run). See: http://www.linspire.com/cnr Also
included is Lsongs, an easy to use music manager for Linux which has been
tuned for automatic ripping and seamless interaction with MP3beamer. MP3beamer
Sync is a super-useful utility which allows a remote user to sync their song
collection from MP3beamer to a remote machine for offline playback.
Q:
Is MP3beamer GPL?
A: Parts of MP3beamer are GPL. Parts are based on
Slimserver. There are some parts which are not GPL, specifically code licensed
from a 3rd party which we do not have the rights to GPL.
Q: Is the
source code provided for MP3beamer?
A: Yes, for those parts which are
GPLed. MP3beamer was constructed with some assistance from Linspire engineers.
You can read about Linspire's support for open source initiatives here: http://info.linspire.com/opensource/
Q:
Do you charge $79 for the software? Is that permissible under the GPL?
A:
Yes, it is permissible to sell software under the GPL. Read here for more
information:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#DoesTheGPLAllowMoney
MP3tunes
sells MP3beamer hardware for $399 and is a full PC, but it's about 1/3rd the
size of a desktop machine which makes it a good size for a music appliance. It
runs Linspire and includes access to all the software for MP3beamer. If
customers wants to install on their own machine, they can purchase the
MP3beamer suite of software for $79. This includes Linspire which is $59
program plus MP3beamer server software, Lsongs and MP3beamer Sync so I think
it's a good value. There are definitely things that MP3beamer can do which
slimserver cannot which if those features and one click install have value to
people makes it a good price. If those features don't have value and people
don't mind setting up their own machines, then it's not a good value.
Q: Will MP3beamer work with Squeezebox?
A: Yes.
Q: Why
isn't the Squeezebox listed on the MP3beamer site as a recommended hardware
device?
A: There are several reasons.
1) We're targeting MP3beamer
as a mass market product. This means we emphasize easy of use and low-cost.
While definitely not as expandable, there are some devices like the Linksys
and SMC units which are less then half the price of Squeezebox unit ($125 vs
$279) which is critical to reach the mass market with the music appliance
concept. And some units like Linksys even have speakers which make them
standalone boom boxes which is ideal for our target market.
2) We have
yet to put up a the complete list of devices. A more comprehensive list of
devices will go on the MP3beamer web site this week with another dozen or so
hardware units which should work with MP3beamer.
3) I like Squeezebox.
In fact, I bought 8 over Christmas time and gave to my executive team as
gifts. I called up Slimdevices asking if we could work with them on MP3beamer
project. My multiple calls and emails were finally returned after 3 weeks, but
unfortunately it was an absolutely awful meeting and I don't use those words
lightly. I laid out plans for our product. I was very abruptly told that
Slimdevices had no interest in working with us. They said they were working on
other things for next few months which they could not tell me about and they
had no time for us. When I asked if we could get demo units to showcase with
MP3beamer at the Desktop Summit trade show (see: http://desktopsummit.com), I was told
'No'. I asked for marketing literature I could hand out I was also rebuffed.
Then I called a couple other companies and got a much warmer response and they
gladly sent us units to demo and literature to pass out. Still at the
conference I brought in my own personal unit so there would be at least one
Squeezebox on display at the show.
I have a history of rooting for and
supporting the underdogs against big competitors. But in this situation for
the reasons cited above, I decided to focus our attention on Linksys and SMC
units which is probably the best decision given our target market and the
events outlined above.
-- MR
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