Protecode Blog

Open Source License Obligations and the Cloud

Cloud Computing and Open Source

The next technology buzz, after internet, telecom, and mobile, is cloud computing. Hype or not, in various names and forms, cloud computing providers - platforms and applications alike -  are counting on more than $40 billion in revenue in 2011 alone, growing to more than $241 billion in 2020, if we believe the recent Forrester report “Sizing The Cloud”.

In simple terms, cloud computing means replacing desktop computers with simple browsing platforms (low power PCs, tablets or smart mobile devices),  with all the smarts residing in a powerful set of servers far, far away (in a cloud).  Private clouds, virtual private clouds and public clouds cater to enterprise-specific or general public computing demands. Cloud computing technology allows impressive capabilities such as creating virtual servers and adjusting server capabilities such as processing cores and memory, on demand.

The benefits of cloud computing are many. It allows enterprises to reduce the computing capital costs, lower support costs, and outsource their IT infrastructure. It provides agility and allows for optimum server capacity and performance on-demand. It is the enabler of Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) business models. It is orders of magnitude more green- aka energy efficient- than traditional IT infrastructures consisting of hundreds or thousands of PCs.   Cloud computing also allows for mobility of application and data.  Cloud computing and mobility markets are intersecting, think of your  mobile search engine, mobile Gmail or mobile salesforce.com.

Open Source Software in Clouds

Most software applications today incorporate some open source software directly or indirectly (dynamically linked). Developer’s resourcefulness, code reuse, and efficiencies of development make open source an attractive option for all technology organizations. Cloud applications are no exception and many applications deployed in clouds are either entirely open source (think OpenStack or OpenERP Server), or have significant amount of open source in them.

As usual, use of the open source software in a cloud application is governed by certain obligations, usually contained in the associated open source license. Managing compliance with software licenses is like any other quality management process.  A good quality assurance process makes sure that the deficiencies are discovered and corrected before a product is released to the market.

Once the market discovers a quality problem, correcting the problem would be very costly.  Up to now, open source software license management has been more rigorously applied to products that were distributed in volume, such as desktop applications, networking devices, entertainment products or mobile devices. Ownership and licensing issues abound in the mass products domain- think of Sony vs. LG, Apple vs. the world, Microsoft vs. Google, SFLC vs. Cisco/Linksys, SFLC vs. Samsung/Verison, etc.

Cloud computing technology and platforms do not introduce new risks on their own, rather cloud-based software applications do.  What separates a software application deployed in a cloud from other applications is that generally these are applications that are not distributed. They are perceived to be less visible from market scrutiny, and also do not fall under many of the obligations associated with copyleft licenses.

Stay tuned next week for an explanation of commonly used open source licenses in cloud computing.