ZipTie: New features, new name, new license?
Introduction
It has been over a year since I last posted about an exciting open source project called ZipTie. We use ZipTie to automatically discover our network devices, backup their configurations, and perform a variety of functions related to these devices. Many things have changed with ZipTie since my last post and I want to share those with you. I'll start with the positive changes first, because I am a positive type of person.
New Features
The most obvious improvement is the slick web interface that replaces the previous Java fat client. This interface is powered by Adobe Flex, so it has a great look and feel to it. Having a web interface also simplifies deploying ZipTie, because you don't have to worry about installing a Java application and all the required dependencies. Check out the screenshots:
ZipTie has also added a great community resource called ZipForge, which is a place where anyone can publish custom tools that perform specific functions on network devices. This forge makes it easy to create these tools, without forcing the contributor to learn a lot about ZipTie internal functions.
The new release also adds the ability to gather information about end nodes on a network. This means that I can find out which port a device is plugged into simply by entering the IP address (or MAC address) into ZipTie.
I am not going to list all the improvements in this post, but I will tell you that these developers have been hard at work making ZipTie into an incredibly useful tool.
New Name: NetworkAuthority Inventory
Alterpoint has funded the development of ZipTie from day one. A handful of full-time programmers have been working on ZipTie for over two years, funded completely by Alterpoint. The ZipTie open source community has been growing steadily as this application matured, but most community contributions were in the form of beta testing and ZipForge tools. In the last year, Alterpoint began using ZipTie as the core engine inside their proprietary applications. In case you can't make the connection, these products are the ones that make the money that is used to pay for the open source developers working on ZipTie.
I have often wondered why Alterpoint decided not to advertise their products alongside the ZipTie project. Indeed, their name and commercial branding was almost non-existent on the ZipTie website. The Alterpoint folks must have been thinking the same thing as me, because they have completely overhauled the ZipTie website and changed the name of the project. ZipTie will now be called NetworkAuthority Inventory. The new website has Alterpoint branding and provides information about their commercial offerings and what features you will get if you buy them.
I strongly feel that it is appropriate for Alterpoint to push their products, given the fact that they are paying for ZipTie to be developed. It is important for people to realize that Alterpoint needs to make money if they are going to continue spending resources on this project.
Regarding the new name, I personally don't like it because has five times more syllables than "ZipTie".
New License: No longer open source?
Here is a message from the lead developer of ZipTie regarding the license change:
Now, I think I understand the reasoning behind this decision. Alterpoint needs to find ways to make money if it wants to survive. Using ZipTie as the core of their product stack is a great way to benefit from open source development and introduce users to their commercial products. However, changing ZipTie into a proprietary application is not required to accomplish this!
The business model that accomplishes what Alterpoint is trying to do has recently been named "Open-Core Licensing". This model works by building core functionality as open source software, and then adding proprietary features on top of that core. As I will discuss in a future post, a successful open source business provides many benefits to the community and the project.
What can we do about this?
What can we do to encourage Alterpoint to continue using an open source license? There is always the possibility of forking the previous version of ZipTie that was released as MPL. However, forking a community should always be considered a last resort after all other options have failed. Even if ZipTie was forked, I don't know how successful it would be because 99% of the development is being done solely by Alterpoint employees. In theory, the threat of a fork is supposed to prevent software vendors from mistreating open source communities.
I think the best thing we can is do at this point is educate Alterpoint about the benefits of using an open source license for their core product. If the community really cares about this issue, perhaps Alterpoint will re-evaluate their licence.
I think we also need to address their concern with the GPL being incompatible with the EPL. I believe that the Alterpoint wants to use the GPL license because it offers the most protection from other businesses using ZipTie code inside their products without contributing their changes to the project.
Can anyone answer that question? Both Eclipse and Wikipedia state that the licenses are incompatible. However, Ed Burnette from ZDnet points out that EPL code is found within Red Hat Linux:
It has been over a year since I last posted about an exciting open source project called ZipTie. We use ZipTie to automatically discover our network devices, backup their configurations, and perform a variety of functions related to these devices. Many things have changed with ZipTie since my last post and I want to share those with you. I'll start with the positive changes first, because I am a positive type of person.
New Features
The most obvious improvement is the slick web interface that replaces the previous Java fat client. This interface is powered by Adobe Flex, so it has a great look and feel to it. Having a web interface also simplifies deploying ZipTie, because you don't have to worry about installing a Java application and all the required dependencies. Check out the screenshots:
ZipTie has also added a great community resource called ZipForge, which is a place where anyone can publish custom tools that perform specific functions on network devices. This forge makes it easy to create these tools, without forcing the contributor to learn a lot about ZipTie internal functions.
The new release also adds the ability to gather information about end nodes on a network. This means that I can find out which port a device is plugged into simply by entering the IP address (or MAC address) into ZipTie.
I am not going to list all the improvements in this post, but I will tell you that these developers have been hard at work making ZipTie into an incredibly useful tool.
New Name: NetworkAuthority Inventory
Alterpoint has funded the development of ZipTie from day one. A handful of full-time programmers have been working on ZipTie for over two years, funded completely by Alterpoint. The ZipTie open source community has been growing steadily as this application matured, but most community contributions were in the form of beta testing and ZipForge tools. In the last year, Alterpoint began using ZipTie as the core engine inside their proprietary applications. In case you can't make the connection, these products are the ones that make the money that is used to pay for the open source developers working on ZipTie.
I have often wondered why Alterpoint decided not to advertise their products alongside the ZipTie project. Indeed, their name and commercial branding was almost non-existent on the ZipTie website. The Alterpoint folks must have been thinking the same thing as me, because they have completely overhauled the ZipTie website and changed the name of the project. ZipTie will now be called NetworkAuthority Inventory. The new website has Alterpoint branding and provides information about their commercial offerings and what features you will get if you buy them.
I strongly feel that it is appropriate for Alterpoint to push their products, given the fact that they are paying for ZipTie to be developed. It is important for people to realize that Alterpoint needs to make money if they are going to continue spending resources on this project.
Regarding the new name, I personally don't like it because has five times more syllables than "ZipTie".
New License: No longer open source?
Here is a message from the lead developer of ZipTie regarding the license change:
ZipTie has, up until 10/28/2008, been licensed under the MPL. Now that ZipTie has moved into our NetworkAuthority brand of products, we wanted to put a GPL license on it. Unfortunately, our use of EPL software prohibited us from using the GPL. To get around this, AlterPoint is licensing NetworkAuthority Inventory under the Open Technology License (OTL). It basically reads like a GPL.This is the area that I am most concerned about. Alterpoint has changed the licensing of this project from Mozilla Public License to a custom license created by Alterpoint. I am not a lawyer, but my conclusion is that this license severely limits the rights of users. Because of this, I do not think it can be considered an open source license. Alterpoint has taken an open source project and turned it into a closed freeware application.
Now, I think I understand the reasoning behind this decision. Alterpoint needs to find ways to make money if it wants to survive. Using ZipTie as the core of their product stack is a great way to benefit from open source development and introduce users to their commercial products. However, changing ZipTie into a proprietary application is not required to accomplish this!
The business model that accomplishes what Alterpoint is trying to do has recently been named "Open-Core Licensing". This model works by building core functionality as open source software, and then adding proprietary features on top of that core. As I will discuss in a future post, a successful open source business provides many benefits to the community and the project.
What can we do about this?
What can we do to encourage Alterpoint to continue using an open source license? There is always the possibility of forking the previous version of ZipTie that was released as MPL. However, forking a community should always be considered a last resort after all other options have failed. Even if ZipTie was forked, I don't know how successful it would be because 99% of the development is being done solely by Alterpoint employees. In theory, the threat of a fork is supposed to prevent software vendors from mistreating open source communities.
I think the best thing we can is do at this point is educate Alterpoint about the benefits of using an open source license for their core product. If the community really cares about this issue, perhaps Alterpoint will re-evaluate their licence.
I think we also need to address their concern with the GPL being incompatible with the EPL. I believe that the Alterpoint wants to use the GPL license because it offers the most protection from other businesses using ZipTie code inside their products without contributing their changes to the project.
Can anyone answer that question? Both Eclipse and Wikipedia state that the licenses are incompatible. However, Ed Burnette from ZDnet points out that EPL code is found within Red Hat Linux:
Take, for example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux. RHEL contains both free and non-free programs. It contains programs covered by GPL, EPL, Apache, BSD, and every other conceivable license. The last paragraph in section 5 says this is OK even though they’re conveyed as a single aggregate.Is there another OSI license that would be a good fit for this project, and still be compatible with the EPL?
To suggest alternative OSI licensing options, I'd first have to understand why the MPL or EPL was unacceptable. And then I'd have to understand what specifically what new restrictions or grants they were looking to impose.
ReplyDeletetrying to understand this new license...
ReplyDelete1. would I be free to modify and give away or sell under the new license?
2. would I be required to provide the source like with GPL?
3. what really defines "open source" now? Is it that which complies with the 4 terms of freedom defined by Stallman's group?
Reading it now, but legalize makes my head hurt... just say what you mean, already! *sigh* Lawyers... :)
looks like as Ziptie has become formidable product, they've decided to prevent it from others to also use it to create their own commercial products.
ReplyDeleteUse of GPL would accomplish that but seems like GPL causes them problems as well.
I'll agree that Introduction of a new license is really bad if for no other reason, it's another license to figure out what is and is not ok.
From the license it seems to go beyond GPL and more like AGPL, preventing not only other companies to use as a commercial product but also preventing them from using as a service as well. So a service provider would not be able to use the product to manage networks for their customers, etc.
Unfortunate development. Is there any more explanation than what is in that email on this decision from them?
On a second thought, this statement is a bit smelly "Unfortunately, our use of EPL software prohibited us from using the GPL"
ReplyDeleteSince AlterPoint is the sole developer of the solution, it owns the copyright and hence the right to release the software with multiple licenses. The software being available as GPL would not bind them since they are the original owner of the code (external developers have to sign contributors agreement to give rights to Alterpoint), hence they can use it together with EPL or any other license.
So it seems they're not being completely forth coming with their rationale to switch licenses.
Jef - The Alterpoint people would have to answer that, perhaps they will post a comment.
ReplyDeleteBerkay - ZipTie has created a lot of new code, but it also uses a lot of other open source code, like the Eclipse software. So their point about EPL is valid.
Thanks to everyone for you comments!
Any new word on the licensing?
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the tips. That was a great help to me.
ReplyDelete