From time to time I see posts and comments on the web saying that CODESYS is open-source. Normally I ignore making corrections, but last week something weird happened. We were involved in a bidding for a contract, where the buyer selected an integrator which of one of the selection criteria for the other system was that they used the open-source IDE/runtime CODESYS. It didn’t say open. It said open-source.
CODESYS is NOT open-source. CODESYS is as CLOSED-source as it can be. They don’t share their source code for the IDE or runtime to the public. However, just like most other automation vendors, CODESYS DEPEND on open-source. For example, what they’ve done is that they’ve integrated Git (which is open-source) into their product (which again is closed source), made the Git-management in CODESYS closed source and on top of that put a hefty price tag on it. Industrial automation in a nutshell. Just because they depend and use open-source code in their products, doesn’t mean that they become open-source.
The likelihood that CODESYS (runtime or IDE) will ever be open-source is as likely as Siemens making their development environments for free (which is on the scale between “non-existent” and “when pigs will fly”-level of likelihood). In contrast with other vendors, they’re a pure software company, so it wouldn’t make any sense for them.
I think the simple misconception and what people actually mean is that CODESYS is (relatively in the context of industrial automation) open, which is something completely different. Don’t take this as criticism towards CODESYS Group (I think they’re great), but we need to put the facts on the table.