Open Source CRM vendor SugarCRM's CEO Larry Augustin has agreed to participate in two upcoming panel discussions on what companies need to consider when implementing and enforcing open source licensing and trademarks.

Augustin will offer his perspectives on whether or not it's useful to register a trademark and, if so, how to permit its use by others. He'll "evaluate various policies and enforcement strategies from corporate and non-profit perspectives" as well, SugarCRM (News - Alert) officials say. For a preview of his thoughts on the state of open source and other related topics visit his blog at:http://lmaugustin.typepad.com/.

 

TMC recently reported that SugarCRM founder John Roberts (News - Alert) stepped down from his board seat and as CEO of the company to “pursue other opportunities.”

Board member Augustin stepped in as interim CEO after serving on the board for a little over three years. He had been CEO of Linux systems vendor VA Linux.

Also, at a recent industry event, SugarCRM joined other commercial open source providers to uncover research findings from a survey 'Future of Open Source,' which found open source software has become increasingly mainstream, especially in the enterprise.

Survey respondents said the top four factors that make open source software attractive include lower acquisition and maintenance costs; superior security; freedom from vendor lock-in; and better quality software.

 

For more, check out the Open Source CRM channel on TMCnet.