The Norfolk, Virginia-based enterprise resource planning software has announced that it has adopted CPAL for its new PostBooks accounting and ERP package. xTuple is the second vendor to adopt the new OSI-approved attribution license after SocialText, which created the license.
Formerly known as OpenMFG, xTuple changed its name at the end of July with the launch of PostBooks, which it had originally intended to release under its own xTuple Public License. However, the company received criticism from some circles for creating its own license, and quickly adopted the CPAL, which was approved by the OSI just a day after the PostBooks launch.
CPAL is the first OSI-approved license that enables developers to require someone making use of their code to provide attribution in the form of a logo and web link. Such licenses have become popular for vendors whose code is used in modified form as part of a hosted or software-as-a-service package.
The short-lived xTuple Public License was typical in that it was based on the OSI-approved Mozilla Public License, with extensions that had not been approved by the keeper of the Open Source Definition.
The CPAL was created to overcome this problem by providing a template for adding limited attribution terms and is a license that its creator, SocialText CEO Ross Mayfield, expects to be quickly adopted by the 40 or so companies using Mozilla + Attribution licenses.
