Today we're announcing the release of Parthenon 2.0. With this release, there are updates like all other releases. But the main change is that Parthenon is now available under the Business Source License. This means that it is now free to use Parthenon for non-production use, such as: development, testing, and evaluation. We're also granting an additional usage for production use to those generating less than $5,000 US Dollars a month. Previously, Parthenon was only available for a fee.
What is Parthenon
Maybe you're here for the first time, so I'll try and explain what Parthenon is and what I want it to be.
Parthenon often falls into the category of a SaaS template developed in PHP for the Symfony Framework. It can allow you to build a MVP for a SaaS extremely quickly because it provides all the basic functionality. But it provides more than that. It was originally built to allow software development for small to medium-sized companies. To provide them a foundation they could build on that is flexible and provides the generic functionality that so many companies need and often have to write themselves or often couple too hardly.
In the future, we'll be building more features related to solving problems small and medium-sized companies have. While these features will generally be helpful for people developing SaaS platforms, they will aim to solve the annoying but not essential problems that companies have and developers often never get the time to resolve themselves.
Where can I get it?
You can find Parthenon available via the public packagist and Github.
GitHub Repositories:
- https://github.com/getparthenon/parthenon - The Parthenon Bundle
- https://github.com/getparthenon/skeleton - The Skeleton Application.
- https://github.com/getparthenon/monorepo - The monorepo for development
You can check out the getting started guide to see how build with Parthenon.
If you wish to start a new SaaS you can run the composer command create-project.
composer create-project parthenon/skeleton new-application
And if you're adding it to an existing Symfony application.
composer require parthenon/parthenon
Building In Public
One of the benefit of this move is that I can fully build Parthenon in public.
Since the code is open. I've also opened up a monorepo that is used to develop Parthenon I've also created a GitHub Project to manage the Project's roadmap which is also now open. You can find that here - https://github.com/orgs/getparthenon/projects/3
And the plan for Parthenon is to focus on improving it and start treating more as an open source project than a commercial one. With the main development focus being on building an easy to use, extendable, and powerful billing and payments system.
FAQ
What changes are in 2.0
There are many changes, but the most significant change in 2.0 is a rewrite of the Skeleton Frontend application.
You can find the changes in the changelog
How does the licensing work?
The BSL is a source available license that freely allows usage of the code for development and other non-production work such as testing. Production use of the software requires a commercial license.
An additional usage grant allows production use when your revenue is under $5,000 US Dollars a month.
What Open Source license will the code revert to and when?
The open source Change License will be GPL v3 and the Change Date is 3 years– i.e. whenever Parthenon code is released under the BSL, that code will revert to the GPL v3 license after three years and all of the terms of the GPL v3 license will apply at that time.
I have a copy of the software used for production but other copies I only use for development, testing and staging. For which ones do I need a commercial license?
You only need a commercial license for any copies of the software that are being used for production.
$5,000 USD a month is low; why so low?
While the revenue barrier is low so is the license fee. If you're using Parthenon to generate $5,000 a month, which would come to $60,000 a year, it seems fair you pay $250 per developer a year. In the future as Parthenon grows it'll be an aim to increase this revenue barrier to make it available for small companies and only charge companies that can truly afford to pay.
Why not use an open-source license?
While open-source has allowed many great projects to thrive, it is felt that for a project of this nature to thrive and fullfill it's full potential, it needs funding and full-time developers.
Open source allows us to create Parthenon. However, we feel far too often open source developers aren't getting fully rewarded for their work while companies making millions or even billions don't pay back to open source nor sponsor open source developers.
It's felt this provides the best of both worlds, it allows those who aren't making money from their code to use this code for free.
Will the Change Date remain constant?
No. Each new minor version of the software will have its own Change Date. A "minor version" is defined as a release that changes the second digit of the version number. E.g. a change from Parthenon 2.0.19 to 2.1.0 would reset the Change Date. A patch build change from 2.0.19 to 2.0.20 would not.
Can I contribute to Parthenon?
Yes. This is a source available license that allows community involvement.
Can I use Parthenon's BSL code for my commercial, closed-source product?
Yes. Use in a closed source product will usually be for production use so you must get a commercial license if your monthly revenue is greater than $5,000 US Dollars.
If I modify the source code of software licensed under the BSL, can I redistribute my modified version under the GPLv3 license?
No. Your modified version consists of the original software (which is under the BSL) and your modifications, which together constitute a derivative work of the original software. The license does not grant you the right to redistribute under an open source license.
If I hire an agency to develop my application, would I need a commercial license
You would need a commercial license once you moved your application to production and are generating more than $5,000 a month.
You would not need a commercial license during the development phase. If you had 10 developers during the development phase and once you went to production, you had only 1 doing maintenance, then you would just need a license for 1 developer. However, if you have 10 developers build and you go to production and 10 developers continue to work on it you would need 10 developer licenses.