(Column) – In the past, it seems like there has been a lot of angst surrounding the idea of dual-licensed software gaining any real traction. But after researching this, I think it has a real shot at giving traditional commercial-only software a run for its money. Even if it is simply in the long tail markets

Keeping the Hot Side Hot And the Cold Side Cold. Thinking back to a popular fast food chain’s slogan for a new sandwich at the time, by keeping the two sides separate, the fast food chain was able to take something that was not really "new" and make behind the product a whole lot better. I see the same approach becoming successful with Open Source and commercial software. Let me explain.

If a company opts to provide their product under a viable open source license, thus keeping true to making its code freely available – no excuses, generally speaking, they can hold true to the ‘do no evil" mindset. For instance, if the consumer market was the target for a specific company, then it makes a lot of sense to release an open source "version" of the product to that group as a means for word of mouth buzz, in addition to simply showing that the company in question is not trying to restrict or hide the code of their software.

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On the commercial side of the fence, it could be possible to then implement options that are better suited for another market, not just "better features" overall. For instance, let’s say that a software offering allows users to collaborate socially like you see with many of the various social networks today. But then targeting the enterprise market, there would a possible need to pursue various localized collaboration options; in this case, the software vendor may opt to take a commercial approach. Not always, but it is becoming more common lately.

Dual-Licensing Should Never Be About Providing Features. Once we understand that the focus, as with any software project, must remain on the user, dual licensing becomes a little less fuzzy.

The fact is that a company can, in many instances, successfully deploy dual-licensing when they use a 100 percent open source product to target open source software fans, yet recoup any in-house development costs, and heaven forbid, turn a profit via their commercial efforts targeted at another group of users altogether.

Open Source Should Be Free: End of Discussion. Without a question, there are going to be those who are steadfast in their belief that open source products need to be free in cost, not just free as in free code. Commercialized code, even if there is a non-commercialized alternative, is not the end the world. It is merely a matter of different strokes for different folks. Much like one would argue open source code usage in the restricted OS X operating system.

Linux and OS X appeal to different markets altogether, so I would pose to you that in many ways, a duel-licensed product has the same thing going for it.

In the long term, duel licensing is going to become more palatable amongst companies that at one time were exclusively using closed source licenses exclusively. But only time will tell, I suppose.

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