Solutions
Licensing
Funambol has two versions of its software, the open source Community Edition and
the commercial Carrier Edition, that share a body of source code. This
dual-license strategy is common with commercial open source software. Which edition is right for you depends on your needs and
usage -- see below for their major differences.
Funambol Community Edition
Funambol Community Edition uses the AGPLv3
open source license that lets you offer your software to all who wish to use, modify and distribute it freely. The AGPLv3 open
source license allows you to use Community Edition at no charge under the condition that if you use Funambol code in an application
that you distribute or host, the complete source code for your application must be available and freely redistributable under reasonable
conditions. With this license, you can download, inspect, develop and test Funambol code. Many organizations do exactly this
before they contact us regarding a commercial license.
In layman's terms, Community Edition can be freely used for many purposes. The most notable exception is if you change or add to
the code and you use the software as the basis of an Internet or network-based service, you must publish your code or buy a
commercial license.
Funambol Carrier Edition
Funambol Carrier Edition is available under a traditional commercial software license. Carrier Edition includes functionality,
connectivity and compatibility beyond Community Edition that makes it suitable for large-scale deployment. It is available with
full support, documentation and consulting services. Funambol's commercial license does not trigger open source obligations such
as the need to publish and share your code. Carrier Edition is the basis for the Funambol solution that is provided to
service providers as well as OEMs, ISVs and ODMs. To inquire about
Carrier Edition, please contact the Funambol Sales team.
Which Edition is Right for You?
Funambol Carrier Edition differs from Funambol Community Edition in four primary ways -- it:
- Includes a superset of functionality that makes it suitable for mass deployment. It includes
several critical capabilities that are not in Community Edition such as an end user portal for auto-provisioning and
management of PIM data and email settings; over-the-air (OTA) device configuration and delivery of mobile applications;
SMS gateway integration; a web-based interface for customer service representatives; and regular phone pack updates to
support the latest mobile phones.
- Is certified on commercial infrastructure such as commercial RDBMSs and app servers that enable it to be
deployed in massively scaleable, high availability and fault-tolerant environments.
- Is covered by a commercial license agreement that enables customers to maintain the privacy of their code.
- Is used as part of Funambol professional service engagements and is supported by Funambol.
Here are some guidelines as to whether an open source or commercial license is right for you:
- If your software is licensed under a GPL-compatible Free Software License as defined by the Free Software Foundation or approved by OSI, use our open source Community Edition.
- If you plan to distribute a proprietary application or service, and you are not licensing and distributing your source code under GPL or AGPLv3, you need to purchase a commercial license from Funambol.
- If you are unsure, we suggest that you contact us to discuss your situation. You can also refer to the Free Software Foundation or contact a lawyer as appropriate.
