QNX Publishes Neutrino Source Code and Opens Development Process

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
kamper

kamper

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2003
5,513
0
0
Free is not the word I'd use.

In a move that revolutionizes software development practices by combining the best of the open source and commercial software domains, blah, blah blah...
Click to expand...
Translated: This article was written purely by the marketing department and probably can't be taken very seriously without further details.

Notice that they did not actually really say what the license terms were. This:
but commercial deployments of QNX Neutrino runtime components still require royalties,
Click to expand...
doesn't even sound free-as-in-gpl. You can still include GPL'd code in commercial projects as long as you provide source code to all parts that fall under the GPL's terms. What QNX is saying is that you can't even do that (or so I read it). They want the community to do the work for them but not get any real benefit.

Not that I have any real problem with this. The press release never actually said QNX is now open source, just that they were borrowing from the open source model. They can do whatever they want really, but don't assume it's free or open source until you see a license.
 
DasFox

DasFox

Diamond Member
Sep 4, 2003
4,668
46
91
Yes I hear what you're saying, but it's free in the fact that you don't have to pay to use it anymore, there is a Non-Commercial license that never expires.

As far as all the GPL, etc... I'm not sure how far this freedom extends, but they're calling it "Open Source" now, and QNX from what I gather before was not open source, now they are publishing the source for community development, it appears to be pretty open now.

Read this interview article with the CEO of QNX:

http://www.osnews.com/story.ph...Code-Interview-QNX-CEO


This is what the CEO says about the license:

3. How does this differ from an open source project?

Dan: If you're a developer, everything will look and feel like an open source project: You can access QNX source code, track our product development in real time, and, best of all, participate in the development process - whether by providing input, posting bug reports, or offering up code modifications. The big difference is in the licensing: Rather than publish our source code under a reciprocal license like the GPL, we've opted for a licensing model that offers flexible terms for derivative works. So if you modify QNX source code, you can either keep your modifications proprietary or donate them back to the QNX community. The choice is yours.

Number 6 is a bit odd:

if you qualify as a partner or noncommercial user, you get a free perpetual license to use the technology. No time limits.

Not sure what he means by qualifying, I'm using it as a noncommercial user and my license has no time limits on it... Hmmm

Here is what my email said I received:

The license key unlocks the QNX® Momentics® development suite until the expiry date specified below for non-commercial developers.

License Key: 1ZKX-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
Expiry Date: Never

If you require assistance or community support for the product,
please refer to the following forum:

http://community.qnx.com/sf/di...ntics_getting_started/.

If you would like to refer to the terms of your license, please visit http://licensing.qnx.com/

Thank you,

QNX Software Systems
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
0
0
As far as all the GPL, etc... I'm not sure how far this freedom extends, but they're calling it "Open Source" now, and QNX from what I gather before was not open source, now they are publishing the source for community development, it appears to be pretty open now.
Click to expand...

Most people don't consider something open source unless it uses one of the approved OSI licenses. They do appear to use the Apache 2.0 license for some of the code, but not all of it.

3. How does this differ from an open source project?

Dan: If you're a developer, everything will look and feel like an open source project: You can access QNX source code, track our product development in real time, and, best of all, participate in the development process - whether by providing input, posting bug reports, or offering up code modifications. The big difference is in the licensing: Rather than publish our source code under a reciprocal license like the GPL, we've opted for a licensing model that offers flexible terms for derivative works. So if you modify QNX source code, you can either keep your modifications proprietary or donate them back to the QNX community. The choice is yours.
Click to expand...

Depending on the real intent that's true of the GPL as well. The GPL only requires that you provide source code changes to those that you distribute the product to, there's no obligation to send them upstream.
 
DasFox

DasFox

Diamond Member
Sep 4, 2003
4,668
46
91
Well I hope it becomes Open Source as it should, and become a good thing, this will really make QNX grow. This is going to be interesting to see.

Only time will tell if QNX becomes a force...

I'm wondering too if the world of desktop OS and RTOS are going to meld into one, becoming an alternative one day to use.

PC geeks that like to play around with systems should check out QNX now that it's free to use, I think some people will some neat things here.

I'm amazed at how fast this system is...
 
kamper

kamper

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2003
5,513
0
0
Well, if you need to get a license code to be able to use the 'free' software, I'd say that's a pretty good indication it's nowhere near the usual definition of open source. The "flexible terms for derivative works" is a total euphemism for "you'll enjoy doing our work for us". But yeah, better than nothing I suppose. This sort of thing seems to be how most proprietary projects eventually get opened up.

So you've got it running on one of your machines? How's the hardware support?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom