Caldera and Red Hat at loggerheads over Linux licensing

Caldera has defended its controversial licensing policy and gone on to claim other Linux companies will soon follow suit.

The company came under heavy fire last week from open source enthusiasts when it decided to strengthen its business model by introducing Microsoft-style per seat licence fees for its latest software releases.

But Caldera has now hit back insisting that other Linux companies will soon be forced to adopt a similar model as they find they have to make use of any and every revenue stream available to them.

Speaking exclusively to silicon.com at the Linuxexpo 2001 in London, Caldera's Technology Evangelist, John Terpstra said most Linux companies need some common sense in order to stay in business.

He said: "Linux companies were expected to give their wares away for free which had to change. The community must realise the free ride is over and sooner rather than later other Linux companies will follow our licensing policy example."

But Colin Tennick, the European, VP of rival Linux distributor Red Hat, sees Caldera's views as an attempt to placate investors, adding that Red Hat won't adopt such Microsoft-style policies.

"Caldera is obviously trying to get the best of both worlds by claiming to be an open source company and still introducing a per-seat licensing model. We have no plans to introduce per-seat licensing," he said.

Jono Bacon, UK head of open source project KDE.org, said Caldera is trying to prove its viability in the business world.

"There are two ways of making money from the open source software. Either go down the Microsoft route by selling proprietary software code or try to recoup the cost with services and distribution," he said. "In my opinion, Caldera is treading on very dangerous ground by issuing such claims because each company's proposition is unique."