Open Xchange, 1&1 Ink Largest Open Source Deal Ever

In what is being touted as the largest open source deal in history, Open Xchange collaboration solutions provider and 1&1 Communications are partnering to offer hosted open source mail and collaboration services. The joint effort and resulting service, 1&1 MailXchange, is expected to result in 1 million new accounts, according to Web Hosting Industry Review (the WHIR).

1&1 MailXchange is currently available in Germany and slated to arrive in the UK, U.S. and France in a couple of months. The development community will be based in Open Xchange's Olpe, Germany, lab, reports EarthWebNews.com.

An Open Xchange exec emphasizes that there is a "clear distinction" between server components, which will be released under the GNU General Public License, and the "digital content/trademarks/Java browser script code," which will be released under a Creative Commons license that provides the attribution protection required by software-as-a-service vendors, CFO Paul Sterne explains.

A 1&1 representative tells WHIR that the company is not looking to take command of the mail server space from Microsoft or Google, but to provide small business customers with a high performance, low-cost alternative. MailXchange is available as a standalone or as an add-on to existing hosting accounts.