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Anyone care to comment on SugarCRM? They have taken on $46M in funding and have a current valuation around $134M.

alexk 18y ago
Actually they are not truly open source - their license is just called "open source", but the open part of their CRM is just a Demo without reports and lots of other neccessary features, so their "open source" is just a marketing, not the reality.
- SwellJoe 18y ago
  That's a new aspect of SugarCRM. In the past, all of their code was available under an Open Source license...and that Open Source code worked well for a lot of people for a lot of purposes. Just because you need or want the stuff that isn't Open Source doesn't mean they aren't building some "true" Open Source software (and some plugins that are not). Open Source is a license and a community, and SugarCRM has both. It also has some extensions that are not Open Source, and the fact is, extracting money from Open Source fanatics is like getting blood from a turnip...so they will never be a customer anyway. So, it's about the only model that works for a large class of problems. However, you still get a lot of benefits of Open Source from SugarCRM: Open data formats and no possibility for them to lock you in; as long as the core always remains Open Source you can never be "stuck" with your business based on an end-of-lifed product, as with some of the mergers in that field over the years, because it can fork if SugarCRM stops being developed for some reason; community of helpful users and developers means that the level of expertise available is high and affordable. Over 10 years of building businesses based on Open Source software, I've grown to be pragmatic rather than ideological about how best to produce Open Source software and make money with it. I still prefer to produce and use Open Source tools...but I also know that a thriving business-backed OSS project can build thoroughly kickass software at a rate that a purely community-backed project rarely can. It's not impossible, of course, but it's rare and requires several factors to converge: one or more smart developers who need and use the software being developed and who can devote significant time to it, small core of useful functionality that can be implemented and launched quickly, and a large community of users to help support the product so the developer doesn't burn out.
  - alexk 18y ago
    I agree that its'a subject to discuss, however it may be you can find this article interesting: http://www.opensource.org/node/163 http://www.opensource.org/node/163
- tptacek 18y ago
  You don't stop being open source when you start selling closed-source software. Is GPL'd SugarCRM worthless?

alexk 18y ago

Actually they are not truly open source - their license is just called "open source", but the open part of their CRM is just a Demo without reports and lots of other neccessary features, so their "open source" is just a marketing, not the reality.

SwellJoe 18y ago
That's a new aspect of SugarCRM. In the past, all of their code was available under an Open Source license...and that Open Source code worked well for a lot of people for a lot of purposes. Just because you need or want the stuff that isn't Open Source doesn't mean they aren't building some "true" Open Source software (and some plugins that are not). Open Source is a license and a community, and SugarCRM has both. It also has some extensions that are not Open Source, and the fact is, extracting money from Open Source fanatics is like getting blood from a turnip...so they will never be a customer anyway. So, it's about the only model that works for a large class of problems. However, you still get a lot of benefits of Open Source from SugarCRM: Open data formats and no possibility for them to lock you in; as long as the core always remains Open Source you can never be "stuck" with your business based on an end-of-lifed product, as with some of the mergers in that field over the years, because it can fork if SugarCRM stops being developed for some reason; community of helpful users and developers means that the level of expertise available is high and affordable. Over 10 years of building businesses based on Open Source software, I've grown to be pragmatic rather than ideological about how best to produce Open Source software and make money with it. I still prefer to produce and use Open Source tools...but I also know that a thriving business-backed OSS project can build thoroughly kickass software at a rate that a purely community-backed project rarely can. It's not impossible, of course, but it's rare and requires several factors to converge: one or more smart developers who need and use the software being developed and who can devote significant time to it, small core of useful functionality that can be implemented and launched quickly, and a large community of users to help support the product so the developer doesn't burn out.
- alexk 18y ago
  I agree that its'a subject to discuss, however it may be you can find this article interesting: http://www.opensource.org/node/163 http://www.opensource.org/node/163
tptacek 18y ago
You don't stop being open source when you start selling closed-source software. Is GPL'd SugarCRM worthless?