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The new Timescale License doesn't only restrict AWS, it restricts anyone not Timescale from offering management services for the Timescale Licensed code. It re

The new Timescale License doesn't only restrict AWS, it restricts anyone not Timescale from offering management services for the Timescale Licensed code. It restricts customers who find that Timescale is unable or unwilling to support them in an agree-able manner from paying some one else to manage it for them. All that is fine and dandy- it is clear that Timescale is open-core, with an Apache-licensed core and proprietary components, just like gitlab and other products. (Timescale is a bit more generous with their proprietary code, though, so that's nice). I will stick with strongly favoring building on open source code, myself, despite this generous offer of no-fee license to use their proprietary software.

EvanAnderson 6y ago
> It restricts customers who find that Timescale is unable or unwilling to support them in an agree-able manner from paying some one else to manage it for them. It restricts Customers from going to a Timescale-as-a-Service provider, but I don't see how it restricts the Customer from contracting to have a third-party support the Customer's Timescale installation (or to make changes to the codebase as a work-for-hire). I agree w/ your assessment of their new license insofar as it being proprietary. Their old proprietary license made the product unacceptable for my use, but I am comfortable with the limitations to my rights with the new proprietary license. It has enough "right-to-repair" and ability to avoid vendor lock-in to make me feel comfortable that I could maintain a private fork of my use case was dependent on their software. Edit: My first paragraph was a quick-and-dirty. The child post is absolutely right. The license restricts Customers from providing Timescale-as-a-Service services.
- doctor_eval 6y ago
  As I understand it, it doesn’t restrict customers from going to a TSAAS provider, it simply means that if you want to provide TSAAS then you need to negotiate a different license from Timescale. The only restriction is that you can’t (necessarily) provide TSAAS for free. To me that’s free as in speech but not free as in beer, and is well within my personal understanding of “free software”. As the saying goes, the right to speech doesn’t imply the right to be heard; likewise, the right to inspect and modify software doesn’t necessarily imply the right to profit from it.
  - EvanAnderson 6y ago
    You're totally right re: being a TSAAS provider. I was writing on mobile, in a hurry, and didn't compose my thoughts well. I don't believe Timescale is Free software or Open Source. It's proprietary source-available software. I wish all software was Free software, but I don't have the fortitude to restrict the software I use to only Free software. Timescale is "Free" enough with this license that I'd consider using it in my personal workflow, or in a business environment.
  - ensignavenger 6y ago
    Anyone could theoretically negotiate a different license with any software vendor... that's not a feature of the license they are generally offering the software under, its a feature of the legal system of contracts.
- ensignavenger 6y ago
  The inability to maintain a public fork is another strike against the Timescale License. If the company were to shut down or move in a different direction, a community could not form to maintain a fork that meets that communities needs. If these terms are acceptable to you, that is great, but I find the unpalatable for core infrastructure I would be investing substantially to build on top of.

EvanAnderson 6y ago

> It restricts customers who find that Timescale is unable or unwilling to support them in an agree-able manner from paying some one else to manage it for them. It restricts Customers from going to a Timescale-as-a-Service provider, but I don't see how it restricts the Customer from contracting to have a third-party support the Customer's Timescale installation (or to make changes to the codebase as a work-for-hire). I agree w/ your assessment of their new license insofar as it being proprietary. Their old proprietary license made the product unacceptable for my use, but I am comfortable with the limitations to my rights with the new proprietary license. It has enough "right-to-repair" and ability to avoid vendor lock-in to make me feel comfortable that I could maintain a private fork of my use case was dependent on their software. Edit: My first paragraph was a quick-and-dirty. The child post is absolutely right. The license restricts Customers from providing Timescale-as-a-Service services.

doctor_eval 6y ago
As I understand it, it doesn’t restrict customers from going to a TSAAS provider, it simply means that if you want to provide TSAAS then you need to negotiate a different license from Timescale. The only restriction is that you can’t (necessarily) provide TSAAS for free. To me that’s free as in speech but not free as in beer, and is well within my personal understanding of “free software”. As the saying goes, the right to speech doesn’t imply the right to be heard; likewise, the right to inspect and modify software doesn’t necessarily imply the right to profit from it.
- EvanAnderson 6y ago
  You're totally right re: being a TSAAS provider. I was writing on mobile, in a hurry, and didn't compose my thoughts well. I don't believe Timescale is Free software or Open Source. It's proprietary source-available software. I wish all software was Free software, but I don't have the fortitude to restrict the software I use to only Free software. Timescale is "Free" enough with this license that I'd consider using it in my personal workflow, or in a business environment.
- ensignavenger 6y ago
  Anyone could theoretically negotiate a different license with any software vendor... that's not a feature of the license they are generally offering the software under, its a feature of the legal system of contracts.
ensignavenger 6y ago
The inability to maintain a public fork is another strike against the Timescale License. If the company were to shut down or move in a different direction, a community could not form to maintain a fork that meets that communities needs. If these terms are acceptable to you, that is great, but I find the unpalatable for core infrastructure I would be investing substantially to build on top of.