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Is OpenLogic a friend or foe to open source?

OpenLogic is making money from open source. Is it doing so at the expense of the developers who write its code?





This is, of course, one of the blessings and curses of open source. It dramatically decreases vendor lock-in but also provides the tools to ensure vendors don't get paid at all. OpenLogic, as Oracle tried to do to Red Hat before it, may not be adequately accounting for the source of its business, which is the developer (corporate or otherwise) that writes software that it then opts to integrate. Kill that source by skimming the fat off the top and OpenLogic will leave itself barren of a future.

I've heard complaints of this sort on OpenLogic before, that the company hasn't gone out of its way to ensure the companies and communities developing open-source software get paid. If true, OpenLogic will truly be biting the hands that feed it.

I'd like to see a commitment from OpenLogic to the communities - corporate and organic - from which it derives value, a commitment to actively replenish these wells of code. Open source doesn't just need integrators. It needs people giving back. OpenLogic's model is a boon to open source if it gives as much as it takes. But if its focus is in taking the support revenue from the vendors and others writing the software, it will do itself and its customers no favors.