1. Why did we decide to publish Sun HPC ClusterToolsTM technology source code under a new license
model?
Sun HPC ClusterTools technology is an important platform
solution for the age of the network. It needs to be widely adopted to
be most useful. Sun believes that the best way to achieve wide
adoption is to apply the principles of a community source license.
These principles include: sharing rights to the source code among a
community of developers to enhance and evolve the technology;
establishing responsibilities to ensure compatibility; and providing a
business model that rewards innovation and invention by allowing
Licensees to create proprietary enhancements.
2. How was SCSL license model created?
Sun spent several months developing a license that balances the
compatibility issues inherent in Sun's core technologies with
philosophies underlying the idea of a community that shares source
code. The process included the following steps: analyzing existing
licenses; deriving a model that both promotes innovation and helps
guarantee a uniform, reliable and distributed system; and, finally,
structuring the license in a standard format so it can be easily
adapted by Sun for future use.
Throughout this process, Sun asked both its partners and
representatives of the Open Source community for input. Sun also
posted a draft of the license at this web site for several months,
requesting feedback. The final version of the license represents
changes based on input from these sources.
3. What is a "Community", and what are its benefits?
The Sun HPC ClusterTools Technology Community is comprised of any
development organization or individual that has executed the basic Sun
Community Source License (SCSL) agreement to obtain access to Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology source code. Members of the community share
certain rights and responsibilities to protect the open, extensible
nature of Sun HPC ClusterTools technology. Members participate in users
groups, development forums, and advisory councils, and may receive
development and technical support from Sun Microsystems as well as
other community members.
4. Where do I find a copy of the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology
community license?
We have posted Sun HPC ClusterTools technology license for the Sun HPC
ClusterTools Technology here.
The license is available in Postscript, PDF, and HTML formats.
5. What HPC ClusterTools products are available today under the
SCSL?
All Sun HPC ClusterTools Technology products are available under the
SCSL. The suite of products includes Sun MPI
Library, the Prism parallel
programming environment, Sun Parallel File
System (PFS), Sun Scalable Scientific
Subroutine Library (S3L), as well as Sun
Cluster
Runtime Environment (CRE).
You can download the source code including documentation and
Conformance Test Suite together or separately. When you choose to
download either the source code and/or the Conformance Test Suite for
Sun HPC ClusterTools, you will be required to agree to the Sun HPC
ClusterTools version of the SCSL by clicking through the license terms.
6. Where can I download the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology?
The source code and the specifications for Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology described above can be found by going to the following URL:
http://www.sun.com/hpc/
communitysource/. In order to download the source code, you will
be required to accept the terms of the SCSL in a click-through process.
7. The license describes three different types of licensees:
Research Use, Internal Deployment Use, and Commercial Use. Why are
there these different 'levels' of the license and how do I know which
one to use?
Sun has outlined three different levels of the license as a way to
provide full rights to both modify the software under the Research Use
license, and establish responsibilities designed to guarantee
compatibility to the consumer under the Internal Deployment Use and
Commercial Use licenses.
The level of license you use will depend on how you wish to use the Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology. The Research Use license is designed for
you to learn about the technology, to modify the source and create new
and different implementations, and to try it with your own
applications.
The Internal Deployment Use license is designed to allow you to use Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology within your organization. We have added
responsibilities at this level to ensure your internal application will
be compatible with commercial products you may use in-house.
The Commercial Use license (Attachment E) applies if you want to
distribute your product outside your organization for strategic or
financial gain. It includes additional provisions to allow the Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology to evolve. This license must be signed by you
and Sun to be effective.
You will normally progress through at least the first two license
levels, since you are most likely to first explore the technology and
then use it for an internal project. As long as you are not using Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology for commercial projects, you will not need
to execute the Commercial Use license.
8. Why didn't you create three separate licenses -- one for Research
Use, one for Internal Deployment Use, and one for Commercial
Use?
Our goal is to supply a single license that will make it easy for you
to move from one level to another. With this license, you can
understand the responsibilities and requirements related to all levels
of work you might consider. The only additional action needed is if /
when you decide to move to the Commercial Use license. You are then
required to sign and execute Attachment E.
9. If I use the Research Use license initially and then want to move
to an Internal Deployment Use license, how do I do this?
If you decide to deploy the results of your research internally, then
the license grant is already in place but you must comply with the
requirements outlined in section 3.2 for Internal Deployment Use.
These additional requirements include adapting your code to the naming
conventions outlined in section 3.2(a), and passing a sufficiently
recent and appropriate version of the Sun HPC ClusterTools Technology
Conformance Test Suite.
As the license is cumulative, you are still subject to the terms of the
Research Use license, except you will replace your header from Exhibit
B (saying "experimental") with a header from Exhibit C (indicating the
appropriate version of the Sun HPC ClusterTools Technology Conformance
Test Suite you passed).
10. What do I have to do to move from an Internal Deployment Use
license to a Commercial Use license?
If you are currently using a Sun HPC ClusterTools technology license
for Internal Deployment Use and wish to commercialize your product, you
are responsible for the following: your product must pass a
sufficiently recent version of the appropriate Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology Conformance Test Suite, you and Sun must sign Attachment E
of the license (Commercial Use license).
11. I am a consultant. What level of the license do I need to adhere
to?
If you are a consultant working directly for an organization, you are
considered an agent for them and are subject to responsibilities
related to the level of license they have agreed to. If you need
independent access to Sun HPC ClusterTools technology or intend to use
any of the development work you do for more than one company, you are
subject to the Commercial Use license terms.
12. How do I know if my use falls in the "Commercial Use"
category?
Your use is considered Commercial Use if you ship a product using Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology source code for direct or indirect gain
outside your organization. Examples, without limitation, are:
- Selling a version of Sun HPC ClusterTools technology.
- Selling a software product that implements Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology.
- Bundling Sun HPC ClusterTools technology as part of a
larger work you sell for a profit.
- Giving away Sun HPC ClusterTools technology as a marketing
tool for attracting new customers or to retain existing customers.
13. The Sun HPC ClusterTools technology license model seems to
differ from other licenses that share source code. Can you explain your
reasoning?
The Sun HPC ClusterTools technology license is different than the
existing licenses that provide source code. Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology is all new technology, and introducing it poses unique
circumstances for our users and partners. Here are some reasons for our
approach.
First, we promote the idea of providing source code to a community of
developers as a means to enable fast, innovative evolution of Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology and its services. Second, while we want to
encourage people to modify and evolve the technology, the value of Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology lies in seamless connections among
different network devices and services. It is critical that when Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology is deployed a base level of code is tested
to guarantee compatibility among users. Finally, we want to establish
a business model that rewards all developers for creating innovative
services using Sun HPC ClusterTools technology.
We believe this license model fairly balances these goals. It
encourages unfettered creativity and invention at the Research Use
level, and establishes responsibilities related to compatibility issues
that are more critical to Internal Deployment Use and Commercial Use
applications.
For Commercial Use developers, the Sun HPC ClusterTools license
provides a reasonable fee structure that is based on commercial
projections. If you wish to adopt an "open source" style of
distribution (publish your source code and provide your products for
strategic or financial advantage) the applicable fees may be waived. If
you wish to use Sun HPC ClusterTools technology commercially for
strategic or financial advantage the fee involved will be far smaller
than what it would take for your company to develop, test and promote a
similar technology independently.
14. Under this license, can I create a Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology "clone"?
If you agree to the terms of the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology
license, you are granted rights to use the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology Intellectual Property within the source code and make
modifications subject to the responsibilities outlined in the license.
For example, a Research Use licensee is free to create "clones" as long
as the source code, if published, includes the proper notices. An
Internal Deployment Use licensee can create a "clone" as long as it is
compliant with the Sun HPC ClusterTools CTS. A Commercial Use must
also enter into a Sun HPC ClusterTools license agreement.
If you choose not to accept the terms of the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology license, you have access to the specifications under normal
copyrights. This does not, however, grant you rights to any
Intellectual Property which Sun and/or other community members may
have. If you choose to implement a "clean room" clone of Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology, you are subject to any IP claims related to
the technology.
15. If I develop an application that uses the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology binary code, do I need to agree to the terms of the Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology license?
If you develop a service for Sun HPC ClusterTools technology that uses
a binary executable of Sun HPC ClusterTools technology, you can
distribute your program without a Sun HPC ClusterTools technology
license. You are not allowed to redistribute the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology binary code however, unless you are a commercial licensee.
If you incorporate any of the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology source
code in your application, you are subject to the terms of the Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology license.
16. What will the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology conformance test
suite for?
The Sun HPC ClusterTools technology Conformance Test Suite (CTS) is
designed to ensure that applications or services using Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology will function properly.
17. Will I have access to the source code for the CTS?
As a licensee, you are granted access to the source code for the CTS
for the sole purpose of creating error corrections or modifications
that you propose to the developer. Any submissions you make will be
considered "contributions," and granted to the community. We will
consider any submitted bug fixes and/or changes for future upgrades.
18. Will I be able to make changes to the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology conformance test suite?
Sun will publish the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology conformance test
suite and its source code on the Web for licensees only. As the
Original Developer for this technology however, we have reserved the
sole rights to the final code in the test suite. It is a top priority
for us to keep the test suite simple to administer, and bug-free. If,
during your testing you find bugs in the code, we encourage you to
submit your fixes to us.
19. Who will manage the code base for the Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology conformance test suite?
Sun's Sun HPC ClusterTools technology team will manage the code bases
for the different Sun HPC ClusterTools conformance test suites. A Sun
HPC ClusterTools coordinator will act as the liaison between the
community and Sun to ensure that your ideas and bug fixes are
considered for future releases.
20. When will the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology conformance test
suite be available?
The first Sun HPC ClusterTools technology conformance test suite for
the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology is available now. If you are a
licensee, you are free to download it at www.sun.com/hpc/licensing.
21. Can code under the GNU General Public License (GPL) be
incorporated into the Sun HPC ClusterTools technology code base?
No. Under the terms of the GPL you may not provide Products under a
license that may contain more restrictive terms.
22. Can Sun redistribute my code which I grant to the community in
for profit products?
As the Original Developer, Sun has retained the right to include any
code you have granted to the community into a new release of Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology. If you submitted your code to the community
under Section 2 of the license, Sun can -- along with any other
commercial licensee in the community -- incorporate this code into
other products, and ship the other products for a profit.
23. Can someone else redistribute my code, which I grant to the
community?
Yes, provided you granted license to your code under Section 2 of the
license, another commercial licensee could take your code as part of
the current release and include it into products, including for profit
products.
24. How does Sun benefit from putting Sun HPC ClusterTools under
this license model?
Our business strategy is to develop new services based on Sun HPC
ClusterTools technology. Having more people use and innovate with Sun
HPC ClusterTools technology will help drive the market for new,
innovative systems and software services.
25. I want to build a product based upon Sun HPC ClusterTools
technology but I don't want to contribute my source code to the
community. What do I do?
You are not required to contribute the source code for your products
based on Sun HPC ClusterTools technology, whether Extensions to or
Modifications of Sun HPC ClusterTools technology, back to the
community. You are required only to (i) contribute any Error
Corrections which you discover back to the community; (ii) keep the
programming interfaces for your Extensions open and (iii) publish
specifications and test suites related to your Extensions so that the
extended Sun HPC ClusterTools platform stays open.
