Jive Software, provider of easy-to-use, open-architecture, enterprise collaboration software, announced it will license its Spark IM Client application under the LGPL Open Source license (the "GNU Lesser General Public License"). Spark, based on the open IETF standard XMPP (Jabber) protocol, is a cross-platform, Java-based Client optimized for use with Jive Software's Open-Source XMPP Wildfire Server.

With this announcement, all of the applications an organization needs for a complete EIM ("Enterprise Instant Messaging") system are available under Open-Source licensing terms from Jive Software. "Thanks to its tight integration with our Wildfire IM server, Spark has been a popular free Client since it was released last November," said Matt Tucker, CTO, Jive Software. "I'm excited to offer Spark to our large development community as part of a complete Open-Source EIM platform and expect that it will grow even stronger with their support."

"We plan to retain our position as the market-leading Open-Source alternative for real-time communications," said Dave Hersh, Jive Software's CEO. "Using an open standard and an Open Source stack gives organizations the ability to create massive competitive advantage through customization, integration and federation, which the larger proprietary systems just can't deliver. The Open Sourcing of Spark makes that potential even stronger."

Developers interested in learning about the Spark or Wildfire project Messenger project or in downloading the software can find more information at ww.jivesoftware.org . The source code for Spark will be released in approximately four weeks.