Open Source

Many of our projects have open source foundations

Where our technology is not giving us a specific competitive advantage we try to open source.

We do this by releasing frameworks that may be useful to others in the belief that better software will be the result.

Typically we release as open source in accordance with the GNU Lesser Public License.

This does not mean you can copy our commercial products but you are welcome to contribute to our open source projects or adapt them to your particular needs. Do feel free to let us know if you do.

About open source

Open source doesn't just mean access to the source code. According to the Open Source Initiative the distribution terms of open-source software must comply with the following criteria:

• Free Redistribution – The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
• Source Code - The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form.
• Derived Works - The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
• Integrity of The Author's Source Code - The license may restrict source-code from being distributed in modified form only if the license allows the distribution of "patch files" with the source code for the purpose of modifying the program at build time. The license must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code. The license may require derived works to carry a different name or version number from the original software.
• No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups - The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.
• No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavour - The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.
• Distribution of License -The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.
• License Must Not Be Specific to a Product - The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program's being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program's license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.
• License Must Not Restrict Other Software - The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open-source software.
• License Must Be Technology-Neutral - No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.

For more information about open source software visit the open source initiative - http://opensource.org/