Enterprise CMS Developer Alfresco Adopts GNU Public License

WebKnowHow
Friday, February 23, 2007; 04:38 AM

Alfresco Software, Inc., a leading provider of an open source enterprise content management solution, today announced that it will offer its next release under the GNU Public License (GPL), the world's most popular software license.

While the GPL has been widely adopted by Linux distributors and open source infrastructure companies, Alfresco is leading what is expected to be an increasing number of open source application companies to adopt the GPL. Alfresco previously licensed its software under the Mozilla Public License with a clause requiring attribution. The move, which further grows and strengthens Alfresco's developer and OEM community, puts the company on a collision course with proprietary content management vendors and sets off what is expected to be a trend for open source application developers.

Alfresco has built one of the strongest open source brands in the industry, establishing a role as the open source alternative to proprietary enterprise content management software. The company has extended its ECM strengths to web content management.

Adopting the GPL allows Alfresco to provide customers with community-supported software while proprietary companies continue to charge millions of dollars for similar but far less flexible and supportable applications. Alfresco has developed a content repository system designed to improve the collaboration, control and compliance of business documents, web content and associated business processes.

"Moving Alfresco under the GPL makes a tough battle even tougher for those companies still shackled by proprietary licenses designed to control customers instead of empower them," said John Powell, CEO, Alfresco Software Inc. "Alfresco is by far the leading brand when people think of open source ECM and the move to GPL will accelerate that adoption across the development, OEM and customer communities".

Alfresco provides its software under a number of flexible licenses, designed to meet the particular requirements of different types of customers:

-- For Open Source Projects: If customers are developing and distributing open source software under the GPL they are free to use Alfresco under the GPL License. If they are developing and distributing open source software under an OSI-Approved License, but not the GPL, and want to link Alfresco's GPL software with theirs, Alfresco provides the GPL License with a FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open-Source Software) Exception. -- For Commercial OEMs, ISVs and VARs: For OEMs, ISVs, and VARs who distribute Alfresco with their proprietary products, and do not wish to license and distribute their source code under the GPL, Alfresco provides a flexible OEM Commercial License. -- For Enterprises, Government Organizations, Small- to Medium-sized Businesses: Alfresco licenses Alfresco Enterprise under a Commercial License to paid subscribers, similar to how MySQL, Red Hat, and other leading open source companies license their technology. Those wishing to use Alfresco for free under the GPL are able to download Alfresco Community.

The re-licensing will not affect community users' rights in code they have accepted under the modified MPL prior to February 2007. However, if community customers download an update from Alfresco after the February 2007 release of Alfresco Community 2.0, the update will be covered by the GPL plus FLOSS exception. The Alfresco FLOSS Exception enables software provided under existing OSI-approved open source licenses to incorporate the Alfresco Community software without having to license the entire software package under the terms of the GPL. The license change does not affect Alfresco Enterprise customers or use of any software customers received from Alfresco prior to February release of Alfresco 2.0.

Alfresco has been downloaded over 500,000 times and already has a number of major clients for its ECM system, including H&R Block, UK Ministry of Defense, Primus a division of McGraw Hill, Boise Cascade and four of the top ten global investment banks.

Further information can be found at: http://www.alfresco.com/legal/licensing/faq

About Alfresco Software, Inc.

Alfresco Software, Inc. is the leading open source alternative for enterprise content management. It is the first company to bring the power of open source to the enterprise content management market, enabling unprecedented scale and a much lower total cost of ownership than proprietary systems. Founded by a team of content management veterans that includes the co-founder of Documentum, John Newton, and former COO of Business Objects, John Powell, Alfresco is based in London. For more information, visit http://www.alfresco.com.