In the comments on my last post, someone pointed me to the new licensing terms for MovableType. I've read and re-read them, guzzled my morning Diet Coke, and re-read them and I stand by my interpretation last night: I cannot continue using myself or recommending MovableType.

There's a million CMS tools available, I've written a couple myself over the years, and I feel that MovableType is one of the best for its market. The key phrase there is for its market.

I got pointed to Mena's Corner: It's About Time and read that, and re-read it again. According to SixApart, the new licensing scheme allows and encourages the development of software and services paid or free. But, I've read that thing a number of times and I know I'm not a lawyer, but I don't see any text or phrases which address that goal.

It's an unfortunate turn. My goal was to use MovableType as part of a package but that seems impractical now. I can't recommend a set of tools to client which become more restrictive as they get popular within the organization.

Perhaps there's a Developer's License or a System Integrator's License hiding on the movabletype.org or sixapart.com websites, but I don't see any indication of either existing.

The problem for me isn't the cost, it's the restrictions. I've learned a lot from my experiments with MT, but rather than re-investing that experience back into MT I'll invest it elsewhere.