Dirk Riehle's Industry and Research Publications

Category: 1.5 Commercial Open Source

  • Some argue that dual-licensing in commercial open source indicates a lack of ability to provide superior service

    Some argue that dual-licensing in commercial open source indicates a lack of ability to provide superior service

    This is obviously wrong. The use of dual licensing and the ability to provide superior service for open source are unrelated forms of competitive advantage, and without further circumstances, a business should exploit both advantages. Let me explain. Dual (or multiple) licensing is a strategy, in which a company develops software, releases it under an…

  • Commercial open source in the cloud

    Commercial open source in the cloud

    Update 2018-10-16: MongoDB is facing the same problem and decided to go closed source, see the press release. The brouhaha around Redis Labs taking some enterprise modules of its popular open source in-memory database Redis closed source has somewhat calmed down. However, I didn’t see any discussion of what I thought was the most interesting…

  • The cardinal sin of commercial open source?

    The cardinal sin of commercial open source?

    Redis is a popular open source database. Its proprietor, Redis Labs, recently announced that some add-on modules will not be open source any longer. The resulting outcry led to a defense and explanation of this decision that is telling. I have two comments and a lesson about product management of commercial open source. The two…

  • Another take on explaining open source business models

    Another take on explaining open source business models

    Open source remains popular and I find myself explaining the economics of it to ever broader audiences. Rather than talking legalese or philosophy, I’ve been wondering about a pitch that focuses on the high-level strategic objective of the companies that are paying for open source. Here is a short summary; let me know if you…

  • A model of product features in commercial open-source software [ICSOB 2013]

    A model of product features in commercial open-source software [ICSOB 2013]

    Abstract: Commercial open source software has become an important part of the packaged software product industry. This paper provides a model of individual product features, rather than full-fledged business models, and their perceived value to customers. The model is the result of a three-iteration study, including interview analysis, literature review and the implementation of an…

  • The single-vendor commercial open source business model [Book Chapter]

    The single-vendor commercial open source business model [Book Chapter]

    Update 2012-01-28: Springer changed the citation. The reference below reflects this. Springer just republished our 2009 article on how vendor-owned open source works, again. Here is the abstract: Abstract: Single-vendor commercial open source software projects are open source software projects that are owned by a single firm that derives a direct and significant revenue stream…