Opensource ObjectDB

I know you have answered this question some years ago, but I think about the databases that have recently "triumphed" like MySQL, MongoDB or SQLite and they are free databases. Also in the Java world we have the example of Hibernate (ORM) and Apache Hadoop (framework for Big Data).

In my opinion, if you want to grow quickly and become a must-have in Java development you should release your code. I am not talking about what would be better for me but probably for your company and especially for the ObjectDB database. I mean, whenever I decide which database to choose for my projects I will consider pros and cons of ObjectDB and other databases and choose paying or not. But if you want ObjectDB to be a consolidated technology in the Java world you should release the code. You could even have a Community Version and a Commercial Enterprise Version (with more features and support).

Have you thought about it? Is releasing ObjectDB code in your future plans? Will ObjectDB always be commercial?

+1

Moreover, some companies don't want to get stuck in a product which is closed source, for the main reason that they're screwed in case you, as a company, disappear / go bankrupt.

+1 for community and enterprise versions ;)

> I am not talking about what would be better for me but probably for your company and especially for the ObjectDB database.

This is a difficult question. No one can know in advance the results of open sourcing a commercial project. Success stories (as you mentioned) are well known. Failure stories may be more common and much less known. One specific failure story that we know about is related to a known open source object database, which is a virtually dead project today. Financially, we are now in a good position with steady but modest growth. Open sourcing is a risk. If income from support, special features, etc. will not be sufficient we may be in a big problem.

It is possible that the free edition of ObjectDB 3.0 will not have the exact restrictions that the free edition of ObjectDB 2.0 has, and more customers will be able to use ObjectDB for free. Decisions have not been taken yet. But currently there are no plans to open source ObjectDB.

Would be great if that 10 entity class limit is raised, even by a bit :P