Intuit Blurs The Lines Between Open Source And Proprietary Vendors

By Roberto Galoppini
Expert Author
Article Date: 2009-07-30

The lines between open source and proprietary vendors' software strategies continue to blur. Intuit announced the launch of a community site for developers interested in creating connected on line applications for small businesses, providing them with a number of open source tools.

Glyn Moody says is an attempt to plug into the power of openness without really engaging with it, Matt Asay explains how openness will help the company to enrich its partner experience. Savio Rodrigues also thinks that is a win-win, adding that the goal could have been achieved even by releasing the code under a closed source license. Last but not least he argues that the EPL would have been a better choice, now that the OSI has moved the CPL to inactive (for the records, Intuit is hearing hints and reacting).

Intuit is not embracing an open source revenue model (whatever it means), what is interesting is that also proprietary vendors are progressively adopting open source business tools. Intuit giving away developer tools that help to create complements, will foster an ecosystem of partners adding value to the core system.

DimDim complement is already part of Intuit Marketplace, actually re-licensed under a commercial license. Within the Intuit marketplace vendors already cross back and forth between "enemy lines", and the dimension of Init customer base will surely attract more and more attention among software vendors.

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About the Author:
In 2001 started up a small firm specialized in infrastructural solutions based on Open Source software. In 2004 launched the first Italian consortium of Open Source SMEs, becoming its president. Collaborates to academy research on Open Source organizational models and on Open Source meta-districts, keeps rubrics and writes articles on ICT magazines.

http://robertogaloppini.net