Netscape Sets Communicator Code Free

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March 31, 1998 (6:19 AM EST)

By Malcolm Maclachlan,

Netscape began giving away the source code for Communicator for free Tuesday morning, but developers who want to use it must sign a licensing pact requiring them to give some of what they create back to a code pool.

A developer who wants to modify the original source code must sign a Netscape Public License, or NPL, granting Netscape special rights to use the resulting code. That includes the right to change it and include it in future versions of Communicator.

But those who merely want to add to the Communicator code can sign a Mozilla Public License, or MPL, which grants Netscape lesser rights. Under the MPL, if developers use the Communicator code to create a plug-in, they still retain rights to the plug-in. However, if they write an API to access that plug-in, it must be released back to the source code pool.

Microsoft was quick to question the value of the free code. Netscape has not properly addressed manageability issues, said Craig Beilinson, a product manager for Internet Explorer. Companies that create customized versions of the client will have to deal with backward compatibility issues when Netscape releases upgrades to Communicator. For this reason, he said, most would stick to the regular versions, putting the value of the free code into questions.

Microsoft licenses out Explorer as well. Intuit uses Explorer code to allow its Quicken finance software to access the Web, for instance. But Microsoft does this under more controlled conditions, Beilinson said, making sure customers products stay compatible.

However, Beilinson was not able to refute Netscape's claim that its losses in the browser market have lessened since its give away of Communicator started in January. Beilinson said Microsoft's browser share is now 45 percent -- an all-time high -- but is an increase of only three or four points since the beginning of the year.

Netscape released a draft of the licensing agreement on March 4 for developers to review. At the time, there was a single license, but Netscape later created two. Both are hybrids of the GNU General Public License (GPL) and Berkeley Software Design (BSD) licenses, two models for licensing free software code.

Under the BSD model, developers can keep all their work, while the GPL forces developers to share most of what they create.

Developers could use the code for any number of purposes, said Matt Harris, group product manager for Communicator at Netscape. For example, ISPs and PC makers could create their own branded versions of the Netscape browser. Other developers could make versions optimized to work well with certain hardware devices, such as printers or phones. Another developer could create a browser aimed at kindergartners but based on the Netscape browser.

"We'll be able to reach new markets and needs we can't currently address," Harris said. "We will have the world's developers developing on this code."

Under the auspices of Netscape, independent developers have already compiled a Linux version of the browser. Linux is a free, Unix-based operating system, and its co-creator Linus Torvalds and Eric Raymond, an open source expert, consulted with Netscape to help it draft the public license.

One effect of the new regime is that Netscape now becomes a Communicator developer like any other. Although the company will maintain some control over the development process in the short term through its website Mozilla.org, it will be bound by the same licensing terms as other developers.

"We use that source code as would anyone else," Harris said. Eventually, it is likely that communities will form and take development in certain areas, such as XML, from Netscape.

Nevertheless, the licenses show Netscape is trying to maintain some control over the process for the time being, said analyst Tim Sloane of the Aberdeen Group. Releasing the source code will be an advantage when taking browser technologies to standards organizations, he said, since Communicator should have a large and diverse developer base.

"What's really going to be fun is to find out how Netscape can use all of those developers and partners to drive standards," Sloane said. "It will be interesting to see if they can keep those people moving."

Another area where the source code may help is in driving eyeballs to Netscape's Netcenter site, the default home page of all current copies of Communicator and Navigator. With that in mind, Netscape has turned Netcenter into a profit center, with more than 3 million registered members. The site brought in more than $100 million in revenues in 1997, according to Netscape.

Harris said he expects Netcenter's numbers to climb even higher, thanks to Netscape's Unlimited Distribution program, which has begun giving away 70 million copies of the client software through business partners, as well as the free source code.

In any case, distributing free browsers is how Netscape became a big company in the first place, noted Edith Gong, group product manager for Communicator.

"Four years ago people thought we were crazy when we said 'Let's put our flagship product on the Net for free,'" she said.