I read that FreePBX distro is a freeware, but not opensource. I can use it for personal or for my company, but cannot sell it. Right?
My question
- Is it ok if I install it for a company and charge money for installation and setup?
freepbx is opensource …
yes its ok to charge real money for install and setup
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If you are selling, renting, hosting, or receiving compensation for a FreePBX Distro system and are not a Certified Reseller or Partner of FreePBX you are not permitted to use the public yum repositories and you must provide your own repository.
Your best course of action to is to contact sales to become a reseller/partner.
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@dolesec I think freePBX distro is not opensource, its freeware.
@lgaetz I disagree because I am not doing anything you mentioned. It is like you want to use freePBX distro for yourself or your company and you do not know how to install it. You ask me to install it. I charge money for my service. I do not see any problem in it.
I’m pretty sure this covers your scenario.
But the idea that an IT/VoIP consultant should set up a repository just for the one or handful of clients they might set up FreePBX Distro for is silly. (And unenforceable)
This requirement should probably have a little more clarification attached to it; for example, a certain minimum number of systems installed before it is expected that consultant sets up his own repo and not burden the resources of Sangoma. (that sounds kind of silly still)
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You have no idea what you are talking about. FreePBX is open source. The code is right here on github.
Just because you don’t know how to use it like that and instead use the FreePBX distro that is both the open source code plus some closed source code doe snot mean that FreePBX is not open source.
This doesn’t even make any sense from the front to the back of the quote. Nothing @lgaetz quoted from the distro ToS has anything to do with consulting, support, or implementation. It is about selling it.
I help people set things up all of the time. I receive compensation for my labor. Not for FreePBX. I don’t sell hardware or software. I sell myself only. makes it very clear.
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To put this in terms your accountant would understand:
Most people, when installing FreePBX from the Distro, are not acting as an entity selling FreePBX - you are an agent of the company that is installing FreePBX. As their agent, you are undertaking work on the customer’s behalf. They are the entity (with you operating as their agent) that is installing the software. The trick here is that the system needs to be registered to the company that is running the server.
A second, and still reasonable approach, is that you are the entity that is installing the software for your corporate use. Your operation is not selling FreePBX (or renting, etc.), you are selling a service that uses FreePBX as one of its components. You can’t advertise that you are partnered with FreePBX, and you are not selling FreePBX, you are selling services that include it. This is a little more squishy and there is a point at which you run afoul of the TOS for the public YUM repository, so when you do this, you should consider becoming a reseller, but you could argue that you don’t meet the threshold for requiring a reseller agreement.
Where you get into a jam is when you say “My company installs FreePBX and then we control and charge rent to a third party on that installation.” In this regard, you are using the FreePBX Corporate relationship to advertise your services and sell a product. The appearance of a partnership relationship needs to be acknowledged on both side, and the reseller part needs to be executed.
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Thank you. Understood. Very Clear.
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