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Can an Open Source Project Be Acquired?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-just-don't-get-this-one dept.

prostoalex writes "Can an open source project be acquired? ZDNet's Between The Lines says yes, one just did. Software startup JasperSoft acquired Sourceforge-based project JasperReports, which involved acquiring the copyrights and hiring the lead developer for the project." I guess the point he tries to make is that the new corporate overloads can essentially have a free and non-free version of the code, and more or less orphan the free version. The problem of course is that if the non-free version gets good, others will simply fork.

2 of 336 comments (clear)

  1. OSS Biz Model by korekrash · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Before I get flamed, let me just say I have nothing against open source, I just don't understand how it works financially. Could someone explain how "Open Source" software makes any money? I know that corps use services to make there money, but what about smaller companies and independants? How would software development be profitable? I'm just a hobbiest coder and don't do this for a living, so I don't know all the ins and outs. Can someone explain this to me?

  2. Re:Easy to do and quite legal by tomhudson · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    the evil overlords at sun can just buy any decent java tools open source project that competes with sun's for profit tools decent java tools - sort of an oxymoron, methinks, what with the bloat that Java 1.5 is. Then again, time will tell.