Comparing Libmib Open and Libmib Mature

Software in Libmib is organized as two branches: "Open" and "Mature." Libmib Open is available from Mib Software at no cost. It is considered under development, and is appropriate for educational and experimental use.

Libmib Mature is the fully documented, non-experimental, regression tested subset of Libmib Open. Function interfaces are stable. Libmib Mature is available for a monthly subscription, which covers the additional overhead to ensure commercial quality, stability, support, and documentation. Commercial and industrial users should obtain "Libmib Mature" to dramatically reduce the efforts to locate, learn, integrate. Stable function interfaces avoid the risk that future Libmib changes will create incompatibilities in your existing code.

Both branches are provided under the Libmib License that is believed to meet the Open Source Definition 1.0. See the notes about redistribution below.

	"Libmib-Open"	"Libmib-Mature" (by subscription only)
Philosophy	Encourage and support open source community-development of features, fixes, and enhancements.	Ensure the quality, documentation, and stability required for commercial and industrial use.
Support	No-cost download. Open Source "Community" Supported.	Full support by Mib Software. US$50.00/month enables downloads of the "mature" branch, email support including notification of all changes, improvements, defects, etc.
Stability	Under development, sometimes experimental, Changes not tracked	Non-experimental subset of "Libmib-Open" Stable function interfaces. (Externally visible names, types, order of arguments will not change.)
Reusability	File organization, function names, etc. may change. Architecture may not match standards	Standard file organization, coding style, and architecture for reuse.
Documentation	Documentation may be missing or incomplete for new functions and features	Complete documentation, including online hypertext reference
Quality	May not be fully tested	Very high quality: Fully regression tested.

A note about redistribution and trademarks
Redistribution of the Libmib software (whether Open or Mature) is permitted under the conditions in the license. You are welcome to distribute modifications as patch files and refer to our software. You can create, use, and distribute derivative works, such as enhanced or compiled versions, with or without a fee. You may not use our brands, names, or trademarks, nor confuse others about the trusted source of libmib software. If you aren't distributing strictly unmodified source code, then you must describe, advertise, and distribute the software using names that will not be confused with ours.

For example, publishing modified Libmib software from a WWW or FTP site under a "libmib" directory or link is forbidden. We can't control what unstable modifications you put in the software, or the versions you don't update, and that must not be a reflection on us.

The licenses apply to the Software ONLY. The libmib documentation may not be distributed.

More Detailed Topics

Libmib License

Overview and Related Topics

Up To: The LibMib Software Component Library
Up To: Mib Software home page

This Libmib documentation may not be distributed. Copyright 1998-1999, Forrest J. Cavalier III
Mib Software
High Reuse Software Development