Wait? Would even my devops pipeline fall under it?
Or my monitoring? Deployment and management in kubernetes for example?
Or my monitoring? Deployment and management in kubernetes for example?
I reserve special hate for Commons Clause [0] too but SSPL is downright offensive.
A reminder that F/OSS works very well for a lot of reasons [1]. The number one of which is if you want to commodize your product's complement [2][3]. Don't be a knob and F/OSS your core product if you plan to make billions or whatever.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17814386
[1] http://dtrace.org/blogs/bmc/2004/12/16/the-economics-of-soft...
[2] https://www.gwern.net/Complement
[3] https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/
Also HN: Don't be a knob and F/OSS your core product if you plan to make billions or whatever.
They're doing exactly you want: picking a non-free license for their core product, and you're still mad at them.
1. Avarice: They rode the FOSS wave and gained industry mindshare for a conveniently long time. Now, after making (well deserved) millions on the back of it, they turn to an absurd license to basically say, fuck you, looser, I need my billions.
2. Hypocrisy: Spinning the whole thing as "doubling down on Open" with a source-available license. One must be so delusional to call out "naysayers" as spreading FUD about SSPL when the fact remains that SSPL is a landmine.
3. Short-termism: It is all fun and games till Elasticsearch is wealthy and healthy. Once some PE firm takes over when they get pushed into a corner, I can see them doing Oracle-esque law suites even if it isn't their current intention.
If their core product was Elasticsearch, they could have SSPLd it from the start. I'd be curious to see where they'd have ended up then. I'd absolutely not have been upset in this scenario.
The current scenario is what we are in, lets see how it pans out.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25782849
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25784581
The ambiguity is the problem. Yes, the FAQ/A Developer/A Company has said they really mean (A), but the license text, which is the legally binding part, is ambiguous. Even if a judge supports the freest reading of the license, you have to go through the time and resources to get in front of a judge.
For FOSS, this means the majority of projects that run on a scattering of donations + developer free time are dead in the water the first time someone tries to hit them with a Cease and Desist or similar.
It doesn't impact your devops pipeline or your monitoring workload(s).
Link to FAQ: https://www.elastic.co/pricing/faq/licensing