Open Source Blog

As my colleague Tony Baer reports, the deal sees Exadel making available its rich client tools under an open source license on Red Hat’s JBoss.org site.

“Under the deal, Exadel open sources them and retains ownership in name. But Exadel's tools will be hosted in Red Hat's JBoss developer portal, while Red Hat throws additional engineers into product development and assumes control over product direction. Call it an acquisition without having to fork over money or sign the papers.”

Can you imagine this happening in the traditional software world. Granted there are plenty of examples of Vendor A offloading a non-essential product set to Vendor B, but that would never happen without money changing hands, even for a loss-making operation.

The benefits are obvious to Red Hat/JBoss, but what about Exadel? As noted in the FAQ, the company gets to “focus on its core strength in professional services” whilst ensuring “the continuity and growth of its three products”.

In other words, releasing the code both as open source and to Red Hat is an innovation opportunity, enabling the company to invest in what it does best while at the same time aligning with the Red Hat brand and benefiting from community contribution.