Jeff GeerlingAug 11, 2023

As belts tighten, corporate #opensource evolves—further and further from the ideals of Free Software.

Partly due to bad actions by "freeloaders," but also companies putting too much value in building code, and not enough on community and support. https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/hashicorp-adopts-business-source-license

HashiCorp adopts Business Source License

HashiCorp adopts the Business Source License to ensure continued investment in its community and to continue providing open, freely available products.

HashiCorp
Show threadBlake Leonard

@geerlingguy Seems less of "not placing value on the community" as much as the code (or their exclusive hosting of it) is what's making them money. Companies who only sell support don't make a lot of money, except for Red Hat, and evidently it wasn't enough for them either.

Related question: does the MPL still apply to older versions of the software and source code with which it was bundled, or does this somehow retroactively affect the old code?

Aug 11, 2023 at 12:17amWeb
Show threadDefectiveWings ✈️Aug 11, 2023
@blake
IANAL, but it seems to only affect code going forward
@geerlingguy
Show threadjsjAug 11, 2023
@blake @geerlingguy The FAQ explicitly states it only applies to new releases. Everything already out there remains MPL
Show threadViktor NagornyyAug 11, 2023
@blake @geerlingguy "That is why today we are announcing that HashiCorp is changing its source code license from Mozilla Public License v2.0 (MPL 2.0) to the Business Source License (BSL, also known as BUSL) v1.1 on all future releases of HashiCorp products. HashiCorp APIs, SDKs, and almost all other libraries will remain MPL 2.0."
Show threadBlake LeonardAug 11, 2023
@viktor @geerlingguy I read the rest of that and somehow skipped over the "all future releases" part... 🤦️
Show threadViktor NagornyyAug 11, 2023
@blake @geerlingguy I missed the last sentence of that paragraph the first time I read it 😂 When I went to copy it, I saw it.
Show threadNicolás AlvarezAug 11, 2023
@blake @geerlingguy I don't think any license can be changed retroactively. But to answer your specific question, they're keeping MPL on older versions *and* will continue to backport security fixes to them (under MPL) until at least Dec 2023.
Show threadclacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛Aug 11, 2023

@blake It's an approved open source and free software license. It's irrevocable.

Unlike the GPLv3, the MPLv2 doesn't explicitly say "irrevocable", but it doesn't state any other grounds for termination than you being in breach of the license terms.

You received the software, you received a license to redistribute it. No backsies.

@geerlingguy