Alfresco Grows Distribution via LGPL
John Newton, founder and CTO of the Alfresco Software content management system (CMS) company, has announced a licensing change from GPL to LGPL for the software. The change should go into effect the next Alfresco community version.
Newton writes in his blog that his company could easily develop his software and brand with help of the General Public License. But now the time comes to open up the license to proprietary integration, hence to turn a back on GPL. The advantage of the Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is the ability to link in the Alfresco repository without affecting proprietary software linking it. The total switch to LGPL also makes it easier to link in LGPL components Alfresco already has, such as the Hibernate database service and jBPM for workflow.
The Berkeley graduate sees the licensing change as "more of an opportunity to be a platform beyond individual applications, particularly with the emergence of CMIS," which was introduced in the product mid-2009. With the OASIS standardized Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS), CMSs can share their contents. "We do this," says Newton, "in the spirit of making Alfresco available as a CMIS platform and a general ECM platform to build content applications without inhibiting your business opportunities. What we hope is that your applications will build demand for Alfresco services from Alfresco Software, particularly in larger enterprise environments."
Thus linking in closed software is a revenue source for Alfresco. It is a bit of a stretch to the attitude that customers with open source can save themselves a lot of money, as Newton had suggested for the Alfresco Community Edition 3.2.
The Group 451 business analysis venture is strengthened by Alfresco's decision in its observation that the "dominant GPL open source license may be fading from favor among commercial open source software players." Not to say that open source software is becoming less favored. On the contrary, as Jay Lyman of Group 451 notes, "much of the movement we�re seeing away from the GPL has to do with the desire and opportunity to place open source software alongside, within, on top of or otherwise with proprietary software."
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.
-
Budgie 10.10 Scheduled for Q1 2025 with a Surprising Desktop Update
If Budgie is your desktop environment of choice, 2025 is going to be a great year for you.
-
Firefox 134 Offers Improvements for Linux Version
Fans of Linux and Firefox rejoice, as there's a new version available that includes some handy updates.
-
Serpent OS Arrives with a New Alpha Release
After months of silence, Ikey Doherty has released a new alpha for his Serpent OS.