What is the "commercial open source license" for EE?

[Jamie Lapierre, modificado hace 10 años.]

I may be looking in the wrong place, but I can't find the license for the EE version.

From https://www.liferay.com/products/liferay-portal/ee/faq I know that "Liferay Portal CE is available under the Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) v2.1" and I know that "Liferay Portal EE is made available under a commercial open source license."

The LGPL license is standard and easy to find and understand. But what is the commercial license? Is that posted somewhere on Liferay's site? Or is it not available without a purchase, just as the EE software is not available without a purchase?

Thanks!

[Mika Koivisto, modificado hace 10 años.]

If you are interested in Liferay EE and it's licensing details you should talk to our sales they can help you with that.

[Jamie Lapierre, modificado hace 10 años.]

Ahh, that sounds like a very commercial aspect of the commercial open source license if the text of the license isn't available outside of the sales process.

I wonder why it's not "open source" enough to be posted on the website.

Thanks.

[Jorge Ferrer, modificado hace 10 años.]

Hey Jamie,

EE is provided as part of the Subscription Service and it is the agreement service the one that regulates the software. Access to the source code is provided but distribution of the software is limited to the terms of the agreement.

[Jamie Lapierre, modificado hace 10 años.]

I appreciate the response, and yes, I understand you have a subscription model for EE.

But the license is shrouded in mystery. "Commercial open source license" is a term that invites questions. According to http://opensource.org/osd, "Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. The distribution terms of open-source software must comply with" several criteria. EE can't be redistributed, as far as I can tell, so you aren't "open source," according to any of the dozens of open source licenses found at http://opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical.

So what is the imprecise "commercial open source license" that Liferay has? For whatever reason, Liferay apparently keeps the license confidential and doesn't want to let its EE license be known outside the sales process.

Maybe this is like a Realtor putting out a flyer in front of a house with all the details except the price and square footage. The Realtor thinks that by withholding some data, the potential buyer will be drawn into a dialog, and thereby will be further down the road in the sales process. I've always found those brochures frustrating. But the real estate market continues all the same, and Liferay continues all the same. I don't imagine sales would drop in either case if information was more open.

Thanks!

[Jorge Ferrer, modificado hace 10 años.]

Hey Jamie,

I agree that the term "Commercial Open Source" used associated to the license of EE can create confusion. I will check with Marketing to see if it can clarified. Can you point me to the pages or documents where you have seen it?

Regarding the license, it's not that it is being kept confidential, it's that it's not an independent document but the terms are within the Subscription agreement contract.

[Jamie Lapierre, modificado hace 10 años.]

Hi Jorge:

One place I find the term is https://www.liferay.com/products/liferay-portal/ee/faq.

I really appreciate you taking the time to look for a clarification.

[Jorge Ferrer, modificado hace 10 años.]

Thanks Jamie.

[Jorge Ferrer, modificado hace 10 años.]

Hey Jamie,

FYI, the FAQ has been fixed to avoid confusion

[Jamie Lapierre, modificado hace 10 años.]

The new text makes a lot of sense. The assertion of "open source" about a non-distributable product was confusing, but now that's gone, the page is clearer and probably more accurate too. Thanks!