[Incubator] PyWPS

[Daniel Morissette]

Andrea Aime wrote:
> 
> Mind, GeoServer never actually used the dual licensing scheme, though
> there has been some discussion on whether it would be possible
> for OpenPlans (the copyright holder) to sell GeoServer source
> code under a commercial license.
> 

Um... I never realized this dual licensing possibility during 
GeoServer's incubation.

Dual licensing / single copyright holder should become a question to 
address for future incubated projects.


> There was not much discussion given such an opportunity never actually
> came into existence, but there seemed to be agreement that it could
> have been a good thing provided all the money gathered from the
> sell would have been redirected back to the community in terms
> of support, new features, and whatnot. So, an amount of money
> that the PSC would have been in control on how to spend.
> 
> I might be wrong on the details, but the spirit was "it's ok
> as long as money it goes back into growing the project".
> 
> The idea is, it would be a channel to allow entities that are
> scared off by the GPL to support the project evolution nonetheless.
> 

We'd have to be careful if we go that route: "growing the project" might 
have a different meaning depending on which side of the fence you sit.

For instance, I'm sure the ExtJS guys think what they're doing with 
their dual license, and updates provided only to paying users [1] is in 
the best interest of the project, but from my point of view (as an 
outsider), they are scaring away potential contributors, and creating a 
huge incentive for alternatives (such as GeojQuery to replace GeoExt 
whose users are stuck with the GPL and this commercial license vs 
updates issue).

[1] http://www.geoext.org/pipermail/dev/2009-November/000361.html

My 0.02$ is that from the point of view of a private company who 
controls an open source project this approach makes sense, but from the 
point of view of a foundation such as OSGeo it is a no-go. Sometimes 
it's tough to wear two hats and make sure we wear the right hat at the 
right time.

Daniel
-- 
Daniel Morissette
http://www.mapgears.com/