Looks like Larry and the folks at BitMover have decided to kill off the free version of their BitKeeper source control software. I guess it is a good think KDE’s move to BitKeeper was just an April Fool’s joke.
BitMover’s press release and a response by KernelTrap on the subject are available online..
I had the pleasure of meeting Larry at SCALE 3x this year. From our conversation it seemed like he honesetly wanted to find a middle ground that would allow him to help the FL/OSS and Linux communities, but still pay salaries and feed his kids. It looks like it didn’t work out. Hopefully this falling out will push OSS SCM tools like SubVersion, arch, and the rest to fill the gap left by the free version of BitKeeper.
Personally I think they have the wrong idea. For one thing Linux users, as rabid as we are about OSS licensing and freedom, are no more likely to pirate, reverse engineer or crack software than our counterparts in the windows world. Heck, with all the pirated comercial software I see Windows users using I’d say that camp is more likely to pirate software. I think reverse engineering gets more attention on Linux than it does in the Windows and MAC world because we usually don’t have equivilant versions of the software on our end. If theres no DVD player and DVD Jon helps write DeCSS Linux users will embrace it because that’s their only option for DVD viewing. (By the way check out this interview with him)
For another thing, I think they are wrong about the free version no longer being a marketing benefit. It is the geeks and programers who often drive their employers to move to new technologies. When we start a new project we like to use the tools we’re familiar with. If OSS developers, students, etc get used to using high quality SCM software like BitKeeper via a free version they’ll be more likely to push for it at work and thats where the benefit is. (*shudder* I can’t believe I’m asking Larry to learn from them) and other comercial providers realized this long ago and have been donating their software to Universities, high schools and other educational instituations.
Anyways, to each his own I guess. Best of luck to Larry and his colleagues. From what I hear they make a fine product and I hope their success in the comercial sector continues.
