Terraform infrastructure-as-code tool recently switched to a BSL license. As a result, it was forked into a new project called OpenTF. Let's look at open-sou...
I do get that, it is kind of a gut punch though. I really wonder if it matters especially since the open source version may be coming out (I am not completely sold on the fork), could that kill hashicorp? I hope they keep their jobs and get to keep doing what they love. I do feel bad for the devs and others who really are put between a rock and a hard place. I do want to give them credit for their licence, I think they probably did the best with a bad situation. I am preferential towards open source but I am not an open-source/libre absolutist. I understand the hard decisions must be made when you are toiling away to get exploited by even bigger assholes like Amazon, Google, etc.
I really wonder if it matters especially since the open source version may be coming out
I’d like to believe that Amazon folks might be drooling at this idea, but not for too long. In all honesty, BSL isn’t a bad license per se. If anything, it is better than a license that hides source code. To be exact, it’s a source-available license, just not open-source. Their earlier license was MPL, which is generally regarded as a better permissive open-source license. I’m more of a “prefers GNU, but can settle” type, so I don’t see any issue with it.
If you’re not an absolutist, you should not worry about this drama. You only have to choose which of the either team provides better service, and the direction the project takes in. The original maintainers are part of the company, and so in a way, I don’t see the value this fork adds - perhaps, it is a preventive measure for the worst case, just like Apple did with XNU. They get paid to write code, but the people putting their effort in a fork do not. Amazon might be forced to pay donations to full-time maintainers and contributors. Either way, it’s a win-win situation. People still use Elasticsearch, MongoDB and Redis, so this too, shall pass.
I do get that, it is kind of a gut punch though. I really wonder if it matters especially since the open source version may be coming out (I am not completely sold on the fork), could that kill hashicorp? I hope they keep their jobs and get to keep doing what they love. I do feel bad for the devs and others who really are put between a rock and a hard place. I do want to give them credit for their licence, I think they probably did the best with a bad situation. I am preferential towards open source but I am not an open-source/libre absolutist. I understand the hard decisions must be made when you are toiling away to get exploited by even bigger assholes like Amazon, Google, etc.
I’d like to believe that Amazon folks might be drooling at this idea, but not for too long. In all honesty, BSL isn’t a bad license per se. If anything, it is better than a license that hides source code. To be exact, it’s a source-available license, just not open-source. Their earlier license was MPL, which is generally regarded as a better permissive open-source license. I’m more of a “prefers GNU, but can settle” type, so I don’t see any issue with it.
If you’re not an absolutist, you should not worry about this drama. You only have to choose which of the either team provides better service, and the direction the project takes in. The original maintainers are part of the company, and so in a way, I don’t see the value this fork adds - perhaps, it is a preventive measure for the worst case, just like Apple did with XNU. They get paid to write code, but the people putting their effort in a fork do not. Amazon might be forced to pay donations to full-time maintainers and contributors. Either way, it’s a win-win situation. People still use Elasticsearch, MongoDB and Redis, so this too, shall pass.