How the Cloud is Changing OSS Licensing

Brian looks at the recent changes in open source licensing, as it relates to managed cloud offerings, and how the perception of end-users towards free software vs. cloud services is changing.

#SundayPerspectives

SHOW: 493

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SHOW NOTES

• Server Side Public License (SSPL)
• What does Open Source mean in the Era of Cloud APIs? (Redmonk)
• Cockroach and the Source Available Future (Redmonk)
• MongoDB Cloud, MongoDB vs. AWS, MongoDB’s Playbook (Stratechery)
• Doubling Down on Open (Elastic)
• Evolution of Commercial OSS (The Cloudcast, Eps.492)

THINGS WE KNOW

• Open Source has become a mainstream source for innovation - with most of the Internet being built on OSS technologies (in some way or form)
• Open Source is more widely used in the Enterprise (than in the past), beyond just Linux
• Open Source is often the de facto choice for much of the public cloud (OS, VMs, DBs, etc.)
• The need for a “free” experience is expected for anything new in software or cloud, whether that’s for any/all usage, or a fixed period of time. 
• “Open core”, or other variations on free OSS + non OSS (non-free) features has been a concept for quite a while. 
• Community driven development does bring a broad set of perspectives, and it distributes the workload across engineers, companies, etc.
• Plenty of successful projects have been both Open Source and primarily driven by a single company (especially in the data-centric projects)

THINGS THAT WILL EVOLVE

• Where does the value of software come from? Does it come from the features, from the distribution, from the creator(s), or from how it is run?
• Do customers value ‘free”, or “stability” or “customizability” (features) or “operationalization”? 
• How much of an advantage or disadvantage (or neutral) is the OSS companies offering cloud services across clouds? 

UNKNOWNS AND UNCERTAINTIES

• How will the VC community view the changes in competitive landscape and licensing? How does it impact their future funding models?

FEEDBACK?

• Email: show at thecloudcast dot net
• Twitter: @thecloudcastnet

Evolution of Commercial OSS

Joseph “JJ” Jacks (@asynchio, Founder/General Partner OSS Capital) talks about how Commercial OSS has evolved, coopetition with cloud providers, and what's next for Commercial OSS business models and communities. 

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SHOW NOTES:

• OSS Capital Partners and Advisors
• Commercial Open-Source Software Company Index (COSSI)
• OSS Capital to launch an ETF (with NASDAQ) of OSS Companies in Summer 2021
• Open Consensus - Data Driven Perspectives on Open Source Software
• COSS Community / Open Core Summit 
• The Kubernetes State of the Community (Eps.272)
• Exploring the Business Side of Open Source Software (Eps.358)
• Server Side Public License

Topic 1 - Welcome to the show. For those that don’t already know you, tell us a little bit about your background, and some of the things you’re focused on today. 

Topic 2 - You’ve been tracking the commercialization of open-source projects for quite a while now. What big trends have you seen evolve over the last two decades (from Red Hat to MongoDB) 

Topic 3 - Even in the face of new OSS-centric offerings from the cloud providers, we still continue to see companies getting funded. What is the sentiment in the VC-communities about what the new competitive landscape looks like? Are there new rules in the game? 

Topic 4 - We’ve recently seen MongoDB and Elastic changing their licensing model to SSPL. The stock of both companies continues to rise. Is what they are doing a short-term “fix” to a competitive threat, or a critical mistake? Does licensing need to evolve as a company matures? 

Topic 5 - Are there fundamental shifts in how OSS companies are created and eventually operationalized happening now? 

Topic 6 - Where do you see commercial OSS trending over the next 5 years, and what big changes need to happen to make those realities happen?

FEEDBACK?

• Email: show at thecloudcast dot net
• Twitter: @thecloudcastnet