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The Open Road

Read all 'SupportPRO' posts in The Open Road

May 1, 2008 4:13 PM PDT

When open source is not: SupportPRO

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Good news! SupportPRO has released an "open source web based Helpdesk system with integrated knowledge base application," called SupportPRO SupportDesk. There's just one problem:

It's not open source.

While the "Why SupportDesk" page declares that "Source Code [is] included...[so that y]ou can modify the software to suit your needs," the license page makes it clear that this right has been superseded by a much more restrictive license.

Yet another example of a company that wants the marketing buzz associated with open source without any of the obligations. Lame.

Topics:: Licensing,; Industry news,; Startups

Tags:: open source,; SupportPRO

Share:: Digg; Del.icio.us; Reddit; Facebook; Twitter

About The Open Road

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to the Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is general manager of the Americas division and vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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