SAP has decided to release its proprietary client-side HTML5 rendering library ‘UI5’ as open source under the name ‘openUI5’. The JavaScript framework has been around for some time and is being used by SAP to create web based front-ends for a number of its new applications (like the ‘Fiori’ applications).
The developer community had been arguing for quite some time about the fact that the library should have been made open source as until now the framework could only be used by SAP customers. An interesting mind twitch as the framework itself is built upon the ‘jQuery’ framework — one of the prime examples of a successful open source initiative — and includes many others as well.
Keeping the library proprietary also meant that most developers outside the SAP eco system would never even consider using the framework … which would be a shame as the framework can easily compete with other frameworks in the market.
