Hi, Not wanting to get flamed or anything, but I've been here before, isn't this the bit where the code-base usually ends up forking? There are many ways to make money and still keep the code freely available (as in freely/easily accessible), like dual licensing for instance.
This is often the natural evolutionary curve for OSS projects, I'll watch with interest to see what happens. Just my 2 cents T. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wim Godden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 5:45 PM Subject: Re: GPL or not? > Tim Sellar wrote: > > > I would like to address a couple of the comments which have been posted with > > regard to the GPL status and availability of freeVSD-1.4.10. > > > > freeVSD-1.4.10 is, and always has been available to anyone, free of charge > > and courtesy of IDAYA via anonymous CVS. In the early days of open-source > > software this was typically the only form in which software was available > > and wholly fulfills the obligation of the GPL to make source code available. > > ok, I don't want to be a pain in the ass, but explain this to me : > - You don't release .tar.gz files anymore > - You do have anonymous CVS available > - People can simply make .tar.gz files from anonymous CVS > > Then why the heck don't you simply make .tar.gz files ? > > > IDAYA will soon be launching a commercial release of freeVSD, named proVSD, > > which, while based on freeVSD, offers considerable advatanges in terms of > > optimisation, functionality and support. We anticipate that proVSD will be > > the package of choice for serious web-hosting applications. However, proVSD > > will not replace freeVSD. Those who continue to use freeVSD will continue to > > benefit from the support, improvements and enhancements which will be passed > > onto freeVSD from proVSD development work. This mirrors the arrangement of > > countless other open-source projects and means IDAYA will be continuing to > > serve the open-source community. > > proVSD will be based on freeVSD... in what way ? Will proVSD use the same code, > but simply extend it ? If that's the case, proVSD has to be released as GPL as > well. > > I understand your problems very well... But you should realize that, once you've > started an open source project, there's no turning back. I've had the same > problem with an open source project which was taking a lot of time to maintain > and not earning me any money. What I did was simply ask for more open source > developers, spend less time working on it (I did nothing more than just > coordinate everything) and concentrate on earning money with it. I built the > basics, others improved it, so we all did our job. And we all made money out of > it. > People who discovered freeVSD through some kind of link were always able to > download it and try it. But when you start pulling everything away from people > who 'may be interested', they will immediately back off. They want to try the > software before they spend money, even if it's very cheap. And I don't think you > can blame them, can you ? > > Personally, I'm very interested in deploying freeVSD on a large scale, but it > needs a lot more work before I can get that done. I'm willing to implement these > features : > - Load balancing for Apache, Qmail and MySQL (all 3 tested so far and working > fine outside freeVSD) > - Failover system guaranteeing 100% uptime for Apache, Qmail and MySQL with > shared disk array (MySQL is tough on shared disk array though, still working on > that) > - Use of a distributed file system with replication, again adding to the > redundancy of the solution > These are the reasons why I was asking for a clear layout of how freeVSD was > designed last week. I had the intention to begin development as soon as possible. > But seeing how things are evolving now, I might as well throw all those ideas > away and start building a new virtual server system, specifically designed for > 100% availability. > > ------------------------- The freeVSD Support List -------------------------- > Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20freevsd-support > Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe%20freevsd-support > Archives: http://freevsd.org/support/mail-archives/freevsd-support > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- > ------------------------- The freeVSD Support List -------------------------- Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20freevsd-support Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe%20freevsd-support Archives: http://freevsd.org/support/mail-archives/freevsd-support -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
