Hi,
I run an agency focusing on open source software, mostly Drupal, Magento Commerce etc. Magento have an interesting marketplace for commercial extensions, "Magento Connect". Magento is licensed OSL 3.0, but its extensions can be any type of license, e.g. GPL, OSL, commercial, etc.
What I want to discuss is a kind of "Drupal Connect" ecosystem, for commercial Drupal extensions. These extensions, like Magento Connect, would not be hosted on Drupal.org, but acquired from third party websites. But Drupal Connect simply brings them all together.
For me it is already lucrative business to sell Magento extensions (mostly payment methods). I want to start doing something similar for Drupal Übercart, or D7's Commerce module, by providing commercial-class, well-supported payment extensions.
I have read Dries' take on this:
http://buytaert.net/joomla-vs-drupal-business-models-and-commercial-ecos...
Basically, Dries expresses a bit of worry concerning licensing and a commercial ecosystem for modules. I don't see the problem. Just for the record, I do provide several free modules, http://drupal.org/user/214103 But the opportunity of increasing cashflow with commercial-class Übercart/Commerce payment extensions is very attractive. I've seen some other people sell commercial Drupal modules already, http://www.magictoolbox.com/magiczoom/modules/drupal/, so from my point of view I'm just gonna go ahead.
But I have some questions...
Are there plans for a kind of "Drupal Connect" commercial marketplace?
What would be the right approach concerning code and licensing? (I don't need to host the code on Drupal.org, I have my own download store.)
Is Drupal limited to GPL-only code? E.g. you can't mix anything else into a Drupal project?
If you have any ideas on this subject, please share them!
Let's build a "Drupal Connect" ecosystem for commercial extensions! :-)