Metasploit joining forces with Rapid7

[Fyodor <fyodor () insecure org>]

This doesn't directly affect the Nmap project, but I'd like to
congratulate HD Moore and the Metasploit project for joining forces
with Rapid7!  HD has done so much for Metasploit in his spare time
that I can't wait to see what he and Egypt and the new team accomplish
going forward with full-time dedication to the project.

The Nmap project has certainly improved dramatically since 2002, when
I quit my job at Netscape to work on Nmap full time.  I can't take all
the credit for that, but it did allow me to expand the scope of Nmap
and implement many features I had wanted for years.  Development sped
up yet again when David joined the project (starting as a SoC student
in 2007).  Since I left Netscape we've added Zenmap, the Nmap
Scripting Engine, Mac OS X support, Ncat, a rewritten port scanning
engine, ARP scanning, version detection, and much more[1].  I wish
Metasploit the same sort of success!

Of course it is always a bit scary to see an open source project
acquired by a for-profit VC-backed company.  What if they go closed
source and we end up having to pay thousands of dollars a year for a
required plugin feed?  After reading what HD has to say and speaking
with Chad Loder of Rapid7, I don't see this as likely.  They both
sound dedicated to keeping Metasploit a free and open source resource
for the community.  Plus, Metasploit is BSD-licensed so anyone can
fork it if they aren't happy with its direction.

Here are some links with more information:

Metasploit ML threads:
 http://seclists.org/metasploit/2009/q4/93
 http://seclists.org/metasploit/2009/q4/103

Formal announcement/FAQ:
 http://www.rapid7.com/metasploit-announcement.jsp
 http://www.metasploit.com/home/faq 

Blog/News articles:
 http://vrt-sourcefire.blogspot.com/2009/10/rapid7-make-bold-statement-acquiring.html
 http://blog.coresecurity.com/2009/10/21/rapid7-metasploit-and-expansion-in-the-penetration-testing-market/
 http://www.cio.com/article/505572/Open_Source_Security_Project_Could_Get_a_Boost_with_Metasploit_Buy?taxonomyId=1461
 http://risky.biz/RB128
 http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2009/10/open-source-metasploit-gets-ac.html
 http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/10/21/141206/

Cheers,
Fyodor

[1]  http://nmap.org/book/history-future.html
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