Chef Goes All Open Source
The company behind the popular DevOps automation tool is releasing those proprietary add-ons built around the open source core.
The Chef automation tool, a popular solution for DevOps IT management scenarios, has announced that it will be become a 100% open source platform. In the past, the basic Chef application was available in open source form, but the company also provided several enhancements and add-on tools with proprietary licenses. Rather than building proprietary tools around an open source core, Chef will now open source all of its software under an Apache 2.0 license.
According to Chef CEO Barry Crist, “Over the years we have experimented with and learned from a variety of different open source, community, and commercial models, in search of the right balance. We believe that this change, and the way we have made it, best aligns the objectives of our communities with our own business objectives. Now we can focus all of our investment and energy on building the best possible products in the best possible way for our community without having to choose between what is “proprietary” and what is “in the commons.”
This move toward free software does not mean that Chef is changing its focus on commercial enterprise customers. Instead, the change underscores the modern reality that the enterprise is more about services than it is about code. The company has also announced a commercial version called Chef Enterprise Automation Stack that will combine the open-source software with enterprise-grade warranties, indemnifications, and support.
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