Open Source ESB
Is there a truly open source ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) where you get the whole product for free?
Yes, there is one. WSO2 ESB is a complete 100% open source enterprise service bus where the whole code is given away for free for anyone to use. Not many ESBs can claim that. Still dubious?
Let’s get them clarified.
- Is everything free? All the features? No such thing as an enterprise edition?
Yes, that’s right. There’s no such thing as an enterprise vs community edition with WSO2 ESB. You have only one product and all the features are there in it. Period.
- So what’s the catch? Many who claim to have open source, lock users with different licensing. How is it with WSO2 ESB?
There’s no catch. You get the complete feature set under Apache 2.0. You are free to use, modify, distribute and sell the software under this license without having to worry about the use of it. (for example personal use, commercial use etc..)
- Then how on earth does WSO2 make money? What do they get from this?
WSO2 provides consultancy services, quick start packages, production support, development assistance, continuous support for bug fixes (WUM updates) with a subscription support and that’s how they make money.
Even though the maintenance of the previous versions come with the subscription model, these fixes are available in the next immediate ESB release. So you can always use the latest ESB or what you can do is, keep track of these fixes and merge it yourself on the ESB version that you use.
- Okay, So does WSO2 ESB support all the Enterprise Integration Patterns?
You bet, it does. You can have a look at how WSO2 ESB has simulated enterprise integration patterns.
- Where can I see the development activities?
Here’s the git repository location. You can find all the instructions as to how to contribute to the code base along with WSO2 GitHub guidelines.
- Is there a proper documentation maintained for this product?
Yes, there’s a complete ESB documentation maintained for this product by WSO2. Quick start guides, tutorials, best practices, simply everything that you need to know about WSO2 ESB is there. You can even talk to Suzy, the chat bot, to find out anything about WSO2 ESB.
- Where can I get the community support?
If you have questions, post them in Stack Overflow and you can join the mailing lists to monitor WSO2 development activities and participate in discussions. Apart from these there’s a whole lot of community activities that you can engage in. You can find WSo2 community engagement model to see how you can get involved with WSO2 ESB project.
Want to find out more about the openness of WSO2 ESB? Check out WSO2 library articles.
