3 ms·

Craft CMS follows an interesting business model: a self-host product which is purchased with the source code of the product i.e. 'source only'. It's not open-so

Craft CMS follows an interesting business model: a self-host product which is purchased with the source code of the product i.e. 'source only'. It's not open-source - the source code of the product cannot be shared or distributed by others, but it can be modified by the customer to suit their needs. The source code is published on GitHub so anyone can see it. Presumably the product creators trust customers will pay for the product (if some do not, it probably doesn't matter to profitability). Another profitable PHP product called 'Kirby CMS' also follows this model. The idea of 'source only' is not new at all. Back in the late 90s when Delphi was popular, many developers created and sold components to other developers (e.g. UI widgets). These components came with full source code of the components but they were not open source. The label 'source only' is considered a dirty word among some open source advocates. But if you are building a B2B (Business-to-Business) software product, 'source only' is a viable option to successfully make a living from your product - one that isn't completely closed source. (As an aside, here's the Craft CMS licence: https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/develop/LICENSE.md https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/develop/LICENSE.md)

ricardonunez 4y ago
I know is more complicated than that but wasn't that how Stallman envision it? Free as in Freedom and not financially. By the way, I remember those Delphi days with UI widgets. It is an interesting model. Does anybody knows how to handle the annual license renewal?
- V__ 4y ago
  You mean in general, or how Craft does it? You set up an account with them, and buy as many licenses as you need. Furthermore, you also don't have to buy a license each year, you just won't get updates. The renewal fee stays the same, even if you pause it for a few years. See: "How Craft Licenses and Renewals Work" [1] [1] https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/how-craft-licenses-and-renewals-work https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/how-craft-licenses-and-r...
dgb23 4y ago
Source only / source available / dual licensing and so on is a common model for web development components and libraries. Some from the top of my head are tailwindui, mui, mapplic, flickity, many plugins for Wordpress and other plattform-like things and there are several additional CMS solutions, typically PHP based, that do this.

ricardonunez 4y ago

I know is more complicated than that but wasn't that how Stallman envision it? Free as in Freedom and not financially. By the way, I remember those Delphi days with UI widgets. It is an interesting model. Does anybody knows how to handle the annual license renewal?

V__ 4y ago
You mean in general, or how Craft does it? You set up an account with them, and buy as many licenses as you need. Furthermore, you also don't have to buy a license each year, you just won't get updates. The renewal fee stays the same, even if you pause it for a few years. See: "How Craft Licenses and Renewals Work" [1] [1] https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/how-craft-licenses-and-renewals-work https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/how-craft-licenses-and-r...

dgb23 4y ago

Source only / source available / dual licensing and so on is a common model for web development components and libraries. Some from the top of my head are tailwindui, mui, mapplic, flickity, many plugins for Wordpress and other plattform-like things and there are several additional CMS solutions, typically PHP based, that do this.