Free of charge, unless you want to pay for it

I have been considering a way to make a little money out of JoomlaPack. The donations are not very disappointing, but let’s face it: donations can only go that far. On the other hand, I detest proprietary (closed-source) software. Moreover, I believe that users should be able to pay in order to use a software only if they choose to do so. So, how do you combine Free (as in speech and as in beer) with Commercial?

To this end, beginning with the JoomlaPack 2.1 Stable release scheduled for mid-March, there will be two versions of the JoomlaPack component and JoomlaPack Remote: the Free version and the Special Edition version. Both versions will be 100% Open Source software (licensed under the GPL, so you can download their source code for free, anytime) and you can use them on an infinite number of sites for an unlimited period of time. Their main difference is that the advanced stuff (like multiple database backup, multiple backup profiles and extension filters) will only be available to the Special Edition version. You’ll gain 1 year access to Special Edition downloads by donating 20 Euros to the project.

So, your options for using JoomlaPack will be:

1. Don’t pay a dime; use the Free version. About 90% of users won’t need anything more than that in order to backup, restore or move their site between hosts.
2. Evaluate Special Edition for free. Why pay for something you can’t get to use beforehand? Our “Free Ride” plan gives you time-limited (24 hours) access to the full Special Edition downloads. You can keep the software after this period expires and use it legally on an unlimited number of sites. Yes, it’s like giving away free beers!
3. Download the source code and build it yourself. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is about freedom of choice. If you don’t like paying, you can always download the source code for free and build it yourself. It’s not for the faint at heart, though… BTW, the Bleeding Edge will only serve SVN builds of the Free version.
4. Donate 20 Euros and get 1 year of access to the Special Edition downloads. This is – obviously! – what I am hoping you’ll do if you are a serious webmaster or a web professional. Our site will have an integrated “donate & register” sign-up feature to support this option. Everybody who has donated the equivalent of 17 Euros or more since January 2008 will be entitled to a free account.

Please note that no matter if you use the Free or Special Edition version, how you got it and if you have a current JoomlaPack Club membership, you can use our software on an unlimited number of sites – commercial or not-for-profit – and for an unlimited amount of time. There will be no restrictions whatsoever. This is possible thanks to the provisions of the GNU General Public License under which JoomlaPack is licensed.

Some things were, are and will eternally remain free of charge. All of the other tools, like Kickstart and eXtract, will remain free of charge. Support will remain free of charge, for all. We take great pride in our support and we are willing to keep it this way! Documentation will be provided on-line and free of charge (albeit with a few unobtrusive advertisements) through our JoomlaPack.net site.

All of these changes will be applied somewhere in the first half of March, so don’t ask me for details yet! I hope you don’t mind this small change of policy. It’s just that the developer needs money to buy something to eat and rent a place to stay (and write code – computers don’t like rain).