[kwlug-disc] Permissive vs copyleft licenses

[Mikalai Birukou]

>> The GPL doesn't have the magic powers that people attribute to
>> it. MongoDB and Redis have both discovered that the AGPL 3 does not,
>> in fact, protect them from competition from cloud providers who steal
>> their code and use it to compete against them. As a result, MongoDB and
>> Redis have both relicensed their code under non-FOSS licences. Those
>> are two famous examples, but the same story is playing out with
>> other companies as well, who are taking their code proprietary in the
>> face of competition from cloud providers. [Eg, see this recent post:
>> https://joemorrison.medium.com/death-of-an-open-source-business-model-62bc227a7e9b]
> I've taken a closer look at MongoDB's SSPL, and far from the idea of
> walking *away* from AGPL, it looks to me like it is getting even more
> strict.  And that strictness works for them.
>
> They are using GPL ideas to protect their dominance in the industry,
> by forcing all code to be open, even code that merely supports the
> offering of a competing MongoDB service:
>
> https://www.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license/faq
>
> Basically GPLv3 + section 13.
>
> This prevents MongoDB as a company from getting left behind as cloud
> providers build competing services.
>
> It is not (yet?) approved by OSI, and therefore not an official open source
> license, but it is very much in line with the concepts of the AGPL,
> and even more viral.  I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes OSI approved
> someday.
>
> - Chris

This is golden. Practical details in a digestible form.