New uc/OS licensing model - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: pablintino
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2020, 07:26:15 am
content: Good morning all!With the pass of the time I have been following some RTOSs for my personal projects and I had uC/OS in my "nice to try" list since the time it was opened to makers. Today I tried to download it and fill the non-commercial agreement and for my surprise an open-source license movement has appeared!Has anyone any details about the new license model? I have been searching for them in their website and didn't spot anything.Thanks!

author: cfr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 12:32:44 pm
content: They silently released the code on github:https://github.com/SiliconLabs(the RTOS can be found inhttps://github.com/SiliconLabs/uC-OS3)All the code (filesystem, tcp-ip, usb, rtos, ...) is released under the Apache License.I stumbled onto this by chance, apparently there was no announcement on SiliconLabs or Micriums Website.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 01:05:12 pm
content: Why do silicon vendors do this? When a vendor buys a cross platform software company it drives all the customers away, leaving them with nothing of value. Can't they understand that the value of the company lay in being vendor neutral? It also casts doubt over the remaining cross platform companies, as you never know when they might suffer the same fate, and take away your tools.

author: Eternauta
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 01:08:17 pm
content: ThreadX Express Logic (now Azure RTOS Microsoft) also seems to be moving towards a new licensing model. Although not open sources certainly more accessible for small company

author: donotdespisethesnake
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 02:33:27 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on April 17, 2020, 01:05:12 pmI guess the thinking extends little further than "everyone else has a free RTOS offering so we have to have one too". It helps if you dress it up with a fancy term like "vertical integration".

author: Eternauta
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 04:00:42 pm
content: Since the announcement of the release of uC/OS under the open source license: "..This change is a substantial one, and it is being made after careful consideration of the current embedded RTOS environment. For many years now, attitudes toward licensing embedded software have been in flux, with apreference for open-source licenses emerging. By adopting permissive license terms for the µC/ components, Silicon Labs is aiming to bring the software’s benefits within reach of the widest user base possible and to afford the embedded community a role in future development efforts."And the same consideration apply for cross compiler/IDE software

author: donotdespisethesnake
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2020, 08:19:56 pm
content: Right, so as I thought "everyone else is doing it, so we are following the herd".Unfortunately, some projects I have worked were brought to their knees by "free" software. The software inevitably has bugs, no one knows how to use it, and no one can be paid to get the bugs fixed, since its free, no warranty and only minimal support given. You end up trawling through obscure forums trying to find another user who might have a fix.The $200k the management saved by not paying license fees for fully supported software was turned into loss of $millions on the development budget.

author: pablintino
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 18, 2020, 02:59:28 pm
content: Uppss I wasn't paying attention to the thread, sorry guys!I have send mails to Micrium about the licensing model and from where to download the libraries (only uC-OS can be downloaded from their site) but no response at all... No idea why they don't give more details in their website...Quote from: cfr on April 17, 2020, 12:32:44 pmGood catch that github, as you say, I haven't seen any announcements in both sitesQuote from: donotdespisethesnake on April 17, 2020, 08:19:56 pmCompletely agree with that point, I see no point in this free stuff on commercial designs if the management pays no support or similar.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 01:10:44 pm
content: Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on April 17, 2020, 08:19:56 pmWhen software goes free / open source does not mean there is no support. Those are 2 separate things. Take a look at OpenSuSe or redhat.Also, have a look at KiCad. It is still an upcoming PCB design suite and it's limitations and bugs, but bugs get squashed on a short cycle. I've made a few bug reports myself. A small bug was squashed in 2 day's time, a bigger bug took a few weeks.There are also maintenance contracts for KiCad if you want them or you can contact the KiCad Service Corporationhttps://www.kipro-pcb.com/to discuss your needs.Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on April 17, 2020, 08:19:56 pmI've worked for a company that stopped paying a yearly maintenance fee of some EUR30.000. Partly because it the service contract did not mean much anyway. The company was more interested in making new versions with new bugs than fixing old bugs, but also because it was a lot of money on the yearly budget. Over the years we had to squash a handful of bugs in that rtos ourselves with no information about that software on the Internet.Finding a pointer overflow in an RTOS kernel is no fun and too me about 6 weeks to do.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 04:45:44 pm
content: Quote from: coppice on April 17, 2020, 01:05:12 pmI thought that was a feature. Isn't the point to undermine the competition by removing support for their products? A vendor neutral cross platform software company is not in their interest.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 06:07:27 pm
content: Quote from: David Hess on April 21, 2020, 04:45:44 pmThe problem is customers demand something cross platform, and ensure they have it. The massive growth of ARM MCUs is predicated on customer's desire to give the finger to their MCU suppliers, and be able to swap MCUs easily. Of course, this doesn't work out well, because customers choose MCUs for their peripherals, and those are not easy to swap between. A silicon vendor buys a software vendor to lock the software into their own MCUs, but as soon as they do this customers start moving off that software platform, onto one that is still cross platform. Now the value of the purchase is lost, and the customers are still not locked in. If the need to change platforms was irritating enough, it may alienate customers from choosing the vendor again.It looks like Silicon Labs didn't actually strip out the code which supports other vendor's MCUs. It all seems to be in the public git repo they have created.

author: pablintino
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 07:11:01 pm
content: I have checked out the repository I spoted a new spin-off of the RTOS, CesiumRTOS.It seems that they have created a commercial spin-off of the original uC!https://weston-embedded.com/company/about-us

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 07:29:45 pm
content: Quote from: pablintino on April 21, 2020, 07:11:01 pmI read this as Silicon Labs wasn't getting any traction getting customers to pay for Micrium OS licenses, and in fact it was annoying customers (like me) who saw that the Ethernet MAC and PHY in the EFM32GG11 parts did not have a non-Micrium driver. That part otherwise looks fine, but if one has to pay for the OS license to use the part, then why bother, other vendors have similar. So opening up the Micrium OS makes sense. (Whether it's better or worse than any other RTOS is in the eye of the user, I suppose.) SiLabs has always pushed for tools to be free (Keil for their 8051s!) or very low cost ($30 for a programming dongle when everyone else was charging hundreds of dollars!) and requiring customers to pay for the Micrium license was an aberration.So I see this as a win. Customers who want to use an RTOS that's supported by SiLabs (in the form of example code and such) can do so without paying for licenses. And those customers who require support and are willing and able to pay for it can ring up Weston and engage.

author: pablintino
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2020, 09:17:51 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on April 21, 2020, 07:29:45 pmThat sounds nice, I haven't any knwonldge about the background in software tools provided by Silicon Labs, if they are "pro-free" this is a win for those users. IMO the only concern would be if they stop to support new architectures or other vendors and make uC a Silicon Labs only product, that would be, in my opinion, the the beginning of the end of that RTOS, especially in this actual IoT messy times.

author: Leiothrix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2020, 10:46:21 pm
content: Quote from: donotdespisethesnake on April 17, 2020, 08:19:56 pmYes, but that's capital expenses vs operational expenses.It comes out of someone else's budget, so it's ok