21 ms·

Mapbox-gl-js is no longer under the 3-Clause BSD license

301 points by tuukkah 6y ago

mattanimation 6y ago
Not really surprised by this.
brink 6y ago
Well that sucks. Is this to try to clamp down on users circumventing subscriptions, or something else?
- lights0123 6y ago
  The weird part is that you were always violating your contract with Mapbox by circumventing their billing code[0], so now you just have a copyright violation added on top of that. The way to bypass it is identical to what it was before. But, the big change is in their issue[1] they opened about it: > Can I still use self-hosted map tiles? > Yes. Developers simply need a Mapbox account and access token to use this v2. > > Can I use data or tiles from Google Maps or other non-Mapbox services? > Yes. GL JS is fully interoperable with third party map sources that provide vector or raster tiles in supported formats. Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources. They're charging for Mapbox GL JS, even if you don't actually use their tiles. [0]: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/c7ed000f6d628531e0620df9d141dd6e2237477e/src/util/mapbox.js#L131 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/c7ed000f6d628531... [1]: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162
  - tuukkah 6y ago
    People have been using the open source library without using any Mapbox data or APIs and thus within the terms. The map data is open data by the OpenStreetMap community etc. anyway.
- pmeira 6y ago
  I guess they don't like that people can generate their own vector tiles more easily nowadays, or services like Maptiler [0] (see [1] for some more context) that provide tiles at lower costs. [0]: https://www.maptiler.com/mapbox-alternative/ https://www.maptiler.com/mapbox-alternative/ [1]: https://www.maptiler.com/news/2020/05/the-future-of-openmaptiles-project/ https://www.maptiler.com/news/2020/05/the-future-of-openmapt...
  - stevage 6y ago
    There really aren't many competing tile services. Maptiler isn't necessarily cheaper - it depends on the exact volume, and it has changed back and forth over the last couple of years as each party changes their pricing structure.
pella 6y ago
"This license allows developers with a current active Mapbox account to use and modify the Mapbox Web SDK." "This license terminates automatically if a user no longer has an active Mapbox account." - https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
- lights0123 6y ago
  also > Can I use data or tiles from Google Maps or other non-Mapbox services? > Yes. GL JS is fully interoperable with third party map sources that provide vector or raster tiles in supported formats. Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources. They're charging for Mapbox GL JS, even if you don't actually use their tiles. https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162
seph-reed 6y ago
Does this mean "private repo" closed source, or "don't copy paste our shit" closed source?
- contravariant 6y ago
  >Mapbox gl-js version 2.0 or higher (“Mapbox Web SDK”) must be used according to the Mapbox Terms of Service. This license allows developers with a current active Mapbox account to use and modify the Mapbox Web SDK. Developers may modify the Mapbox Web SDK code so long as the modifications do not change or interfere with marked portions of the code related to billing, accounting, and anonymized data collection. The Mapbox Web SDK only sends anonymized usage data, which Mapbox uses for fixing bugs and errors, accounting, and generating aggregated anonymized statistics. This license terminates automatically if a user no longer has an active Mapbox account. See: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
- tuukkah 6y ago
  "Pay $5 per 1,000 page loads" closed source.
  - EricMapbox 6y ago
    Up to 50,000 - Free https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ A map load is counted every time Mapbox GL JS initializes on a webpage or in a web app. A map load includes unlimited Vector Tiles API and Raster Tiles API requests.
    - tuukkah 6y ago
      Closed source nonetheless.
    - sroussey 6y ago
      So, now we must be careful not to clear out such initializations? Not React friendly at all.
  - 6y ago
cprecioso 6y ago
Link to the new LICENSE terms https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/v2.0.0/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/v2.0.0/LICENSE.t... IANAL, but it seems you can only use the library if you have an active account, and you can still modify the code except billing and analytics. The it links to the TOS ( https://www.mapbox.com/legal/tos https://www.mapbox.com/legal/tos ).
- tuukkah 6y ago
  Plus when you deploy something, you have to pay a significant amount for using the library.
  - stevage 6y ago
    After the 50k free map loads per month.
    - tuukkah 6y ago
      1667 free page loads per day is significantly more restricted than the earlier infinite free loads (of non-Mapbox content). Also, they can change the pricing at any time and some uses might suddenly become unfeasible essentially pulling the rug from under your feet (same as happened with Google Maps pricing earlier).
      - stevage 6y ago
        Well, yes, any finite numbers is significantly more restricted than infinity...
tuukkah 6y ago
Even with just 3666 daily loads, you will pay them 10 USD/day for using the code on your site! "Beginning with v2.0.0, a billable map load occurs whenever a Map object is initialized." Under 50,001 monthly loads is free but after that it costs $5.00 per 1,000 loads: https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- mousebirdc 6y ago
  Can someone confirm this? Do you need an actual Mapbox token to even run an offline map from data you've downloaded off of, say, Maptiler?
  - tuukkah 6y ago
    The quotes are directly from Mapbox. "Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources." https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 > Mapbox GL JS v1.x.x: A map load occurs whenever a Mapbox GL JS Map object is initialized on a webpage and you request a Mapbox-hosted map tile. > Mapbox GL JS v2.x.x: A map load occurs whenever a Mapbox GL JS Map object is initialized on a webpage. https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/map-loads/ https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/map-loads/
themakermark 6y ago
"Mapbox proudly embraces our open source roots" http://www.mapbox.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/about/open/ http://www.mapbox.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/abo...
- tmcw 6y ago
  I wrote that paragraph and I agree with the decision to change GL JS's licensing.
  - kylebarron 6y ago
    I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this. Was it wrong to openly license v1? Or the market changed enough from v1 to v2 that necessitated this change?
  - themakermark 6y ago
    I'd be interested to hear why. I have no problem with companies choosing not to open source in the first place, it is just the idea of taking an open source project with an active community around it and closing it up that is a tough pill to swallow.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - tmcw 6y ago
      I won't get into all the context, but I think we should consider whether a community without contributors is a community. GL JS never had major active contributors outside of the company, and there are no self-funded webgl experts with lots of time who are ready to maintain a fork. OSS, we hoped, was about enabling people and unlocking people's ability to collaborate. It turns out that in 2020, it's mostly helping companies and getting nothing in return. That's not a dynamic you can build a sustainable business on.
      - infoseek12 6y ago
etimberg 6y ago
I guess we should expect to see a fork of the v1 codebase?
- lukeqsee 6y ago
  Founder, Stadia Maps here. We're looking into this, as well as trying to build consensus with the other map vendors on how to approach it. If you're a vendor and what to be part of it, email me (luke at stadiamaps.com).
  - zylepe 6y ago
    Glad to see this. I’m a long time mapbox gl js user for https://onthegomap.com https://onthegomap.com which costs $300-400 per month for running my own graphhopper routing servers and Stadia Maps tile hosting. It would cost over $3000 per month to upgrade to 2.0 and I have no need for 3D. I also use mapbox gl js for visualizing large datasets locally (precomoute vector tiles from non-geographic datasets), which doesn’t seems like it needs to be reaching out to mapbox servers. Happy to help, I’ve had a few pull requests accepted to the mapbox gl js codebase.
    - chrisdalke 6y ago
      I use your site all the time to measure running routes - Thanks for the great work!
    - kevinob11 6y ago
      I love your site, thank you for building it!
    - durkie 6y ago
      side question: who are you using for satellite imagery? I see them being served from ArcGIS but can't find a tile service offering from them.
      - zylepe 6y ago
        Yes, ArcGIS World Imagery https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6a7f08febac2a9 https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6... - from everything I can gather in their docs and talking with sales reps, it is fine to use with proper attribution, which took a bit of work to update dynamically as you pan to different regions.
lucideer 6y ago
When was it open source? This is from 2014 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/3727f6f012866f77e78547db7ed28233533ca480/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/3727f6f012866f77...
- anamexis 6y ago
  That's the 3-clause BSD license. (OSI approved)
  - lucideer 6y ago
    Thanks. Didn't recognise it as BSD at first glance
- lights0123 6y ago
  It was open source (BSD licensed) before today, 9:23 AM. That is when version 2 was released.
Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
This follows the same happening for Mapbox GL Native (iOS/Android) earlier this year. With Native it's more critical. A GL JS fork can continue quite easily. The iOS Native library, however, uses OpenGL and will therefore stop working when Apple finally switches to Metal-only. (Mapbox only released their Metal port under the new proprietary TOS.)
- maxmamis 6y ago
  Can you point to where/when this happened for their native code? As far as I can tell, that's still licensed under 2-clause BSD (https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native/blob/master/LICENSE.md https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native/blob/master/LICEN...)
  - Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
    Everything in that repo is 7+ months old. The main GL renderer is now closed-source: see https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native-android/pull/450 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native-android/pull/450 .
    - maxmamis 6y ago
      thanks!
gorbypark 6y ago
Well, that sucks. I've been a happy Mapbox GL JS user for years, hosting my own tiles and not using their service at all. I even had a few (very small) pull requests accepted into the project. Hopefully the OSS community can maintain a fork of the 1.x codebase. -edit- The FAQ says developers can still use self hosted tiles, but also says that usage is now billed per map load, and "a map load occurs whenever a Map object is initialized on a webpage. Each map load includes unlimited vector tiles, raster tiles, and terrain tiles for the length of the map session.". To me that sound like while I can still use my own map tiles, it would still costs the same as if I used Mapbox hosted tiles.
- lukeqsee 6y ago
  > To me that sound like while I can still use my own map tiles, it would still costs the same as if I used Mapbox hosted tiles. That's my reading of it, as well. Even though it's somewhat expected on the data collection side, it's decidedly unexpected that they not only require ToS acceptance, but also licensing fees for what used to be entirely free, OSS software. > Hopefully the OSS community can maintain a fork of the 1.x codebase. I'm sure this will happen. My company is trying to get some consensus around the best way to proceed. Email in bio if you're interested in taking part!
  - josephcsible 6y ago
    Hopefully the fork will be GPL, so Mapbox won't be able to steal all of the work the new developers do and release it in their new proprietary product.
    - anamexis 6y ago
      Why not? Mapbox has been allowing us to steal the work of their developers and release it in our proprietary products up until this point.
      - josephcsible 6y ago
        Because if they can take all of the improvements from the fork, but the fork can't take any of their improvements, the fork will wither and die.
xfour 6y ago
Anyone have any experience with this? Seems to be MIT Licensed... https://github.com/robertleeplummerjr/Leaflet.glify/blob/master/LICENSE https://github.com/robertleeplummerjr/Leaflet.glify/blob/mas...
- lights0123 6y ago
  I would be more inclined to just keep using 1.x. That plugin is much less performant and doesn't have 3D or rotation.
- severak_cz 6y ago
  see this - https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-leaflet https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-leaflet
pheelicks 6y ago
What a shame. I guess they got sick of people taking their code and ripping out their API subscriptions. For anyone interested in an open source mapping library (that also has 3D support) that can handle raster data (including the Mapbox tiles), I launched a project 2 weeks ago that is the culmination of 7 years effort: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/ https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/. I must say (while acknowledging my huge bias) that I'm disappointed with how the 3D terrain works in the new Mapbox version. It is the top-billed feature, but the controls feel clunky, the terrain often disappears and they didn't even bother implementing distance fog to give the scene scale. When they announced the 3D feature last year I was expecting more.
- leetrout 6y ago
  Kudos to you. Was a cesium user for a brief period in time. This domain is deceptively difficult.
- tuukkah 6y ago
  procedural-gl-js is very cool tech! It's unfortunate it doesn't work globally, above 60 degrees north (yet?).
- grandchild 6y ago
  Very very cool :) Three observations: - Why have a vertical limit when rotating in 3D? I have to click on 2D to look directly top-down. This would be the natural result if I simply tilted the camera all the way downward, but instead it maxes out at some arbitrary angle. (Same the other way, I want to look at the horizon, but I guess there are bandwidth issues involved.) - Scroll zoom is waaay to slow. I have a mouse with an inertial wheel, so I can just let 'er rip, but this must be frustrating with a regular mouse wheel. - +/- keys don't zoom, like I'd expect them to.
  - pheelicks 6y ago
    The camera limits are just defaults, and can be overridden. Manipulating a camera in 3D can be counterintuitive, so the defaults try to keep things manageable at the expense of flexibility. As you say, the further you can see the higher the bandwidth bill. If you really want to see the horizon, make the window narrow :) For the other issues, could you please file a issue on the repo? This is not expected and works great on all machines I've tested.
bdon 6y ago
Mapbox has been extremely generous in releasing their rendering libraries under a permissive license. Creating a map renderer that matches the user experience of Google Maps is a FAANG-level effort, and Mapbox GL also encompasses: * A single style specification format that works well for both base map rendering and data overlays * Parity across native and web rendering * Smooth SDF text rendering with decent i18n support * A font to SDF renderer that is open source: https://github.com/mapbox/node-fontnik https://github.com/mapbox/node-fontnik * A tiled data format that is open source: https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec I hope this licensing change can spur some competition among open source renderers. I’d recommend taking a look at: * Tangram: https://github.com/tangrams/tangram https://github.com/tangrams/tangram - another WebGL based renderer with some key advantages over MapboxGL JS such as custom shaders and canvas text * OpenLayers: https://openlayers.org https://openlayers.org has some vector and WebGL capabilities now as well * Harp: https://www.harp.gl https://www.harp.gl is another new WebGL option I've been working recently with Tangram, so contact me (see user link) if you have questions or are interested in collaborating!
- mourner 6y ago
  Thank you! I'd also like to list some of the building blocks of GL JS that remain open source and are heavily used in other open source projects: - GeoJSON-VT (fast GeoJSON processing) https://github.com/mapbox/geojson-vt https://github.com/mapbox/geojson-vt - Earcut (triangulating polygons) https://github.com/mapbox/earcut https://github.com/mapbox/earcut - Supercluster (point clustering) https://github.com/mapbox/supercluster https://github.com/mapbox/supercluster - vt-pbf (converting GeoJSON tiles to VT) https://github.com/mapbox/vt-pbf https://github.com/mapbox/vt-pbf - vector-tile (decoding vector tiles) https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-js https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-js - pbf (fast reading/writing of protobuf) https://github.com/mapbox/pbf https://github.com/mapbox/pbf - TinySDF (generating SDF from local CJK fonts) https://github.com/mapbox/tiny-sdf https://github.com/mapbox/tiny-sdf - Potpack (generating sprite layouts) https://github.com/mapbox/potpack https://github.com/mapbox/potpack - grid-index (spatial index for collisions/querying) https://github.com/mapbox/grid-index https://github.com/mapbox/grid-index - Pixelmatch (image comparison in render tests) https://github.com/mapbox/pixelmatch https://github.com/mapbox/pixelmatch - Polylabel (fitting labels into polygons) https://github.com/mapbox/polylabel https://github.com/mapbox/polylabel
ccmcarey 6y ago
How are they able to change the license of code that people committed under the 3-clause BSD license without the permission of those people?
- 1337_d00dZ 6y ago
  It's open source code; you use it like any other open source code, ship the license with the software.
- structural 6y ago
  Read the BSD license. There's nothing preventing the code being redistributed in another product (in this case, Mapbox JS v2) under any license terms whatsoever, as long as the copyright holders are appropriately credited.
- bdon 6y ago
  I don't see an issue with this - It's well understood that this can happen with permissive licenses, although often it's from BSD -> GPL/copyleft license.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  They aren’t changing the licence of the existing code.
- josephcsible 6y ago
  Because the BSD license is a permissive/pushover license, which let you relicense other people's work as proprietary. The reason that copyleft licenses like the GPL are better is exactly that they don't allow this sort of behavior.
  - Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
    99% of the code in Mapbox GL was written by Mapbox employees on company time. The GPL would have made no difference.
    - 6y ago
harrisonjackson 6y ago
We tried to implement mapbox on a new product last week. I like the style options for the maps but their reverse geo lookup and local search performed poorly vs google maps. Pins dropped down the street from actual address and search results don't narrow in accurately using POI and city/state - for example "Chipotle Parker Colorado" rather than showing the 3 chipotles in Parker, CO lists: - the city "Parker, CO" - Parker street in Pueblo, CO - childrens hospital therapy center in Parker, CO It just doesn't match the behavior our users have - probably because they have been trained how to search using google and google maps. I am guessing the main use for mapbox is actually custom tiles and custom datasets but anyone using it as a replacement for google maps I'd love to hear if you were able to solve this without too much trouble. We preferred their API, sdks, and pricing over google maps but just couldn't get the results we wanted. https://docs.mapbox.com/search-playground/ https://docs.mapbox.com/search-playground/
- lukeqsee 6y ago
  Geocoding is really hard. :) https://opencagedata.com https://opencagedata.com seems to be the best around using open data and offer API compatibility (or did at last check).
- et-al 6y ago
  afaik, Mapbox's geocoding service was never meant to provide the lng,lat of retail entities. Looking over their API docs, you can search for points of interest (POI), but that's it: https://docs.mapbox.com/api/search/geocoding/ https://docs.mapbox.com/api/search/geocoding/ For your use case, you should look into a geocoding service [0]. And then you can display the location results with your mapping library of choice. Google Maps does provide an all-inclusive service, but as you've mentioned, styling is better with Mapbox (and pricing). [0] - Aside from Google and Mapbox, I've never used any of these alternative geocoding services: https://smartystreets.com/articles/is-there-a-geocoding-api-as-good-as-google https://smartystreets.com/articles/is-there-a-geocoding-api-...
  - harrisonjackson 6y ago
    > The Mapbox Geocoding API does two things: forward geocoding and reverse geocoding. Forward geocoding converts location text into geographic coordinates, turning 2 Lincoln Memorial Circle NW into -77.050,38.889. https://www.mapbox.com/place-search https://www.mapbox.com/place-search I think "location text" is the part they are not parsing well. The screenshots all over that page show someone entering a couple of letters and getting the resulting POI with address. Unfortunately, we could not get reliable results using their web place search so maybe they just have better mobile sdks that are adding more filter data to the requests automatically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
hvasilev 6y ago
Wait, I thought that open source was the panacea? Why are they switching away from it? Maybe if they used GPL they would have done better? It is as if people were exploiting their ideological free labor for personal benefits... weird how the real world works...
dstaley 6y ago
Could we change the title to more clearly reflect that this is a license change from a permissive to a restrictive licence? Maybe "Mapbox GL JS v2 no longer uses a permissive license"? I initially thought by the title that Mapbox had removed the library from GitHub completely.
- tuukkah 6y ago
  What is this talk about "permissive" licenses? It was open source, it's not open source any more. The Open Source Definition: https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd EDIT: The title has now changed but it was "Mapbox GL JS is no longer open source", which is the point: they didn't change from an open source license to another.
  - dstaley 6y ago
    To be honest I just wanted to see a more descriptive title specifically to avoid the tired, unproductive discussion of "what is open source".
    - tuukkah 6y ago
      No need to discuss what is open source as there are agreeing definitions by multiple parties (OSI, FSF, Debian etc.). How is it more productive to use terms like a "permissive" and a "restrictive" license for which there is no generally agreed meaning?
RivieraKid 6y ago
It's understandable. People tend to forget the obvious, that the primary goal of Mapbox is to make money. Investors have given their money to Mapbox with the expectation that they will get back more, preferably much more.
- jmnicolas 6y ago
  I have nothing against people wanting to make money but don't put a free product then yank it out under my feet once I'm comfortable using it (I'm not affected in this case since i don't use mapbox, but the CentOS treachery is still hurting). At least 50% of my work projects happen because the resources I'm using are free. If it isn't free, the project either doesn't happen, or I spend a few months coding what is missing. So I'd rather they tell me upfront that I can't afford their product than waste my time.
  - RivieraKid 6y ago
    > but don't put a free product then yank it out under my feet once I'm comfortable using it Why? This strategy often maximizes shareholder value. Provide a free product in the growth phase and once you shake off competitors and build a moat (aka a monopoly), you start taking profits. Charging money during the growth phase will slow down the growth.
    - bigbubba 6y ago
      Because it's a dick move to waste people's time, and it's also a dick move to expect 'but I'm maximizing shareholder value!' to make people feel better about their time being wasted.
    - jmnicolas 6y ago
      I can't tell if you're serious or if it's sarcasm but I'll assume it's serious. First as bigbubba said it's a dick move and second, do you really want users that have no trust in your company. Google is missing a lot of potential users for its cloud business due to them killing products on seemingly random basis.
easbar 6y ago
Will bug fixes for Mapbox GL JS 2.x be backported to 1.x (by the Mapbox team)?
- Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
  From the Github issue: "Updates to the v1 releases will be made only for critical browser compatibility or security issues for a limited time."
  - easbar 6y ago
    Right. Here is the link: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162
mousebirdc 6y ago
We make a competitor to MapboxGL for mobile called WhirlyGlobe-Maply (https://mousebird.github.io/WhirlyGlobe/ https://mousebird.github.io/WhirlyGlobe/). It supports vector tiles & Mapbox style sheets, works on Android and iOS, even supporting Metal on iOS. Indirect mode in Metal, actually, which is no mean feat. WhirlyGlobe/Maply has been around a long time. It actually predates MapboxGL and it's used in popular apps like Dark Sky, as well as a ton of aviation apps and a not a few GIS apps. Engineers like to write their own, so we're going to hear from a ton of random projects here. And hey, more power to 'em. But you're looking for a fast, open source mobile map toolkit that's going to be around next week? It us.
plantain 6y ago
This is going to fracture the fledgling community building on mapbox-gl-js - I expect we'll see a divergent BSD version as a result. I regret building out on mapbox-gl-js rather than leaflet...
- lukeqsee 6y ago
  You can keep using v1.13 (or earlier) for now. It looks like there's significant community support for an independent, open fork (see my other threads). More on this soon.
- shirakawasuna 6y ago
  Tangram is pretty nice if you end up not finding / wanting one of the forks of mapbox-gl-js
pacofvf 6y ago
> Upon written notice to you, we may (or may appoint appoint a nationally recognized certified public accountant or independent auditor to) audit your use of the Services and Mapbox Software to ensure it is in compliance with these Terms. Any audit will be conducted during regular business hours, no more than once per 12-month period and upon at least 30 days’ prior written notice (except where we have reasonable belief that a violation of these Terms has occurred or is occurring), and will not unreasonably interfere with your business activities. You will provide us with reasonable access to the relevant records and facilities. LOL no.
Animats 6y ago
Forked from version v1.13.0, the last released tag with the BSD license. Sigh. I use this for something that doesn't use their map tiles at all. Hundreds of new forks on Github in the last few hours. Maybe there will be a semi-official community version.
- lukeqsee 6y ago
  It’s in the works! Lots and lots of community interest. Working out the details of governance, code hosting, etc., so that one commercial entity isn’t the sole controller of what comes next. Email me (in bio) if you want looped-in.
  - Animats 6y ago
    Sent msg. I figured that would happen. I have one minor site that uses it, but others have much more significant uses.
nyuriks 6y ago
I have proposed MapLibre as a new home, unaffiliated with any existing project, but at the same time inviting maintainers from everywhere, including OpenMapTiles (I'm a big contributor there), as well as other entities. So far a lot of positive response on twitter, hopefully it will pick up. See original post at https://twitter.com/nyuriks/status/1336493514646052864 https://twitter.com/nyuriks/status/1336493514646052864 (includes a nice reply from MapBox CEO)
snickell 6y ago
We're working on a community-driven fork of mapbox-gl-js here: https://github.com/maps-gl/maps-gl https://github.com/maps-gl/maps-gl Our initial primary goal is to avoid fragmentation, and thereby support a healthy OSGeo community. Updating from mapbox-gl-js should be pretty smooth, I just pushed the first batch of release builds to npm for what will become maps-gl@1.13.0: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@maps-gl/maps-gl https://www.npmjs.com/package/@maps-gl/maps-gl
willfarrell 6y ago
https://github.com/GlobeletJS https://github.com/GlobeletJS is an alternative I've been following, can use mapbox styles
geoyogesh 6y ago
i dont think mapbox api should collect anonymous data since it become licenced product..... or provide ability to turn off the data collection from developer level instead of end user level...
gorkish 6y ago
Happy mapbox customer here, but unfortunately I expect some of the longshot feature requests may never see the light of day now that outside development contributions are going to go to zero. Is there any OSS or economical (Non-ESRI; non-Google) commercial solution for WebGL maps and vector base layer that supports non-mercator projections without hacks? (Arbitrary projections, not just distorting mercator onto a spehere)
redgc 6y ago
Related: https://aws.amazon.com/location/ https://aws.amazon.com/location/ Maybe won't be long until we see "Open Distro for Mapbox" like was done with Elasticsearch

301 points by tuukkah 6y ago

mattanimation 6y ago

Not really surprised by this.

brink 6y ago

Well that sucks. Is this to try to clamp down on users circumventing subscriptions, or something else?

lights0123 6y ago
The weird part is that you were always violating your contract with Mapbox by circumventing their billing code[0], so now you just have a copyright violation added on top of that. The way to bypass it is identical to what it was before. But, the big change is in their issue[1] they opened about it: > Can I still use self-hosted map tiles? > Yes. Developers simply need a Mapbox account and access token to use this v2. > > Can I use data or tiles from Google Maps or other non-Mapbox services? > Yes. GL JS is fully interoperable with third party map sources that provide vector or raster tiles in supported formats. Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources. They're charging for Mapbox GL JS, even if you don't actually use their tiles. [0]: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/c7ed000f6d628531e0620df9d141dd6e2237477e/src/util/mapbox.js#L131 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/c7ed000f6d628531... [1]: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162
- tuukkah 6y ago
  People have been using the open source library without using any Mapbox data or APIs and thus within the terms. The map data is open data by the OpenStreetMap community etc. anyway.
pmeira 6y ago
I guess they don't like that people can generate their own vector tiles more easily nowadays, or services like Maptiler [0] (see [1] for some more context) that provide tiles at lower costs. [0]: https://www.maptiler.com/mapbox-alternative/ https://www.maptiler.com/mapbox-alternative/ [1]: https://www.maptiler.com/news/2020/05/the-future-of-openmaptiles-project/ https://www.maptiler.com/news/2020/05/the-future-of-openmapt...
- stevage 6y ago
  There really aren't many competing tile services. Maptiler isn't necessarily cheaper - it depends on the exact volume, and it has changed back and forth over the last couple of years as each party changes their pricing structure.

pella 6y ago

"This license allows developers with a current active Mapbox account to use and modify the Mapbox Web SDK." "This license terminates automatically if a user no longer has an active Mapbox account." - https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt

lights0123 6y ago
also > Can I use data or tiles from Google Maps or other non-Mapbox services? > Yes. GL JS is fully interoperable with third party map sources that provide vector or raster tiles in supported formats. Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources. They're charging for Mapbox GL JS, even if you don't actually use their tiles. https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162

seph-reed 6y ago

Does this mean "private repo" closed source, or "don't copy paste our shit" closed source?

contravariant 6y ago
>Mapbox gl-js version 2.0 or higher (“Mapbox Web SDK”) must be used according to the Mapbox Terms of Service. This license allows developers with a current active Mapbox account to use and modify the Mapbox Web SDK. Developers may modify the Mapbox Web SDK code so long as the modifications do not change or interfere with marked portions of the code related to billing, accounting, and anonymized data collection. The Mapbox Web SDK only sends anonymized usage data, which Mapbox uses for fixing bugs and errors, accounting, and generating aggregated anonymized statistics. This license terminates automatically if a user no longer has an active Mapbox account. See: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
tuukkah 6y ago
"Pay $5 per 1,000 page loads" closed source.
- EricMapbox 6y ago
  Up to 50,000 - Free https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ A map load is counted every time Mapbox GL JS initializes on a webpage or in a web app. A map load includes unlimited Vector Tiles API and Raster Tiles API requests.
  - tuukkah 6y ago
    Closed source nonetheless.
  - sroussey 6y ago
    So, now we must be careful not to clear out such initializations? Not React friendly at all.
- 6y ago

cprecioso 6y ago

Link to the new LICENSE terms https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/v2.0.0/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/v2.0.0/LICENSE.t... IANAL, but it seems you can only use the library if you have an active account, and you can still modify the code except billing and analytics. The it links to the TOS ( https://www.mapbox.com/legal/tos https://www.mapbox.com/legal/tos ).

tuukkah 6y ago
Plus when you deploy something, you have to pay a significant amount for using the library.
- stevage 6y ago
  After the 50k free map loads per month.
  - tuukkah 6y ago
    1667 free page loads per day is significantly more restricted than the earlier infinite free loads (of non-Mapbox content). Also, they can change the pricing at any time and some uses might suddenly become unfeasible essentially pulling the rug from under your feet (same as happened with Google Maps pricing earlier).
    - stevage 6y ago
      Well, yes, any finite numbers is significantly more restricted than infinity...

tuukkah 6y ago

Even with just 3666 daily loads, you will pay them 10 USD/day for using the code on your site! "Beginning with v2.0.0, a billable map load occurs whenever a Map object is initialized." Under 50,001 monthly loads is free but after that it costs $5.00 per 1,000 loads: https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/ https://www.mapbox.com/pricing/

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
mousebirdc 6y ago
Can someone confirm this? Do you need an actual Mapbox token to even run an offline map from data you've downloaded off of, say, Maptiler?
- tuukkah 6y ago
  The quotes are directly from Mapbox. "Usage of v2 is billed by Map Load to the Mapbox account owner. The license terms make no distinction between data sources." https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 > Mapbox GL JS v1.x.x: A map load occurs whenever a Mapbox GL JS Map object is initialized on a webpage and you request a Mapbox-hosted map tile. > Mapbox GL JS v2.x.x: A map load occurs whenever a Mapbox GL JS Map object is initialized on a webpage. https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/map-loads/ https://docs.mapbox.com/help/glossary/map-loads/

themakermark 6y ago

"Mapbox proudly embraces our open source roots" http://www.mapbox.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/about/open/ http://www.mapbox.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/abo...

tmcw 6y ago
I wrote that paragraph and I agree with the decision to change GL JS's licensing.
- kylebarron 6y ago
  I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on this. Was it wrong to openly license v1? Or the market changed enough from v1 to v2 that necessitated this change?
- themakermark 6y ago
  I'd be interested to hear why. I have no problem with companies choosing not to open source in the first place, it is just the idea of taking an open source project with an active community around it and closing it up that is a tough pill to swallow.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tmcw 6y ago
    I won't get into all the context, but I think we should consider whether a community without contributors is a community. GL JS never had major active contributors outside of the company, and there are no self-funded webgl experts with lots of time who are ready to maintain a fork. OSS, we hoped, was about enabling people and unlocking people's ability to collaborate. It turns out that in 2020, it's mostly helping companies and getting nothing in return. That's not a dynamic you can build a sustainable business on.
    - infoseek12 6y ago

etimberg 6y ago

I guess we should expect to see a fork of the v1 codebase?

lukeqsee 6y ago
Founder, Stadia Maps here. We're looking into this, as well as trying to build consensus with the other map vendors on how to approach it. If you're a vendor and what to be part of it, email me (luke at stadiamaps.com).
- zylepe 6y ago
  Glad to see this. I’m a long time mapbox gl js user for https://onthegomap.com https://onthegomap.com which costs $300-400 per month for running my own graphhopper routing servers and Stadia Maps tile hosting. It would cost over $3000 per month to upgrade to 2.0 and I have no need for 3D. I also use mapbox gl js for visualizing large datasets locally (precomoute vector tiles from non-geographic datasets), which doesn’t seems like it needs to be reaching out to mapbox servers. Happy to help, I’ve had a few pull requests accepted to the mapbox gl js codebase.
  - chrisdalke 6y ago
    I use your site all the time to measure running routes - Thanks for the great work!
  - kevinob11 6y ago
    I love your site, thank you for building it!
  - durkie 6y ago
    side question: who are you using for satellite imagery? I see them being served from ArcGIS but can't find a tile service offering from them.
    - zylepe 6y ago
      Yes, ArcGIS World Imagery https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6a7f08febac2a9 https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6... - from everything I can gather in their docs and talking with sales reps, it is fine to use with proper attribution, which took a bit of work to update dynamically as you pan to different regions.

lucideer 6y ago

When was it open source? This is from 2014 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/3727f6f012866f77e78547db7ed28233533ca480/LICENSE.txt https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/blob/3727f6f012866f77...

anamexis 6y ago
That's the 3-clause BSD license. (OSI approved)
- lucideer 6y ago
  Thanks. Didn't recognise it as BSD at first glance
lights0123 6y ago
It was open source (BSD licensed) before today, 9:23 AM. That is when version 2 was released.

Doctor_Fegg 6y ago

This follows the same happening for Mapbox GL Native (iOS/Android) earlier this year. With Native it's more critical. A GL JS fork can continue quite easily. The iOS Native library, however, uses OpenGL and will therefore stop working when Apple finally switches to Metal-only. (Mapbox only released their Metal port under the new proprietary TOS.)

maxmamis 6y ago
Can you point to where/when this happened for their native code? As far as I can tell, that's still licensed under 2-clause BSD (https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native/blob/master/LICENSE.md https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native/blob/master/LICEN...)
- Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
  Everything in that repo is 7+ months old. The main GL renderer is now closed-source: see https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native-android/pull/450 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-native-android/pull/450 .
  - maxmamis 6y ago
    thanks!

gorbypark 6y ago

Well, that sucks. I've been a happy Mapbox GL JS user for years, hosting my own tiles and not using their service at all. I even had a few (very small) pull requests accepted into the project. Hopefully the OSS community can maintain a fork of the 1.x codebase. -edit- The FAQ says developers can still use self hosted tiles, but also says that usage is now billed per map load, and "a map load occurs whenever a Map object is initialized on a webpage. Each map load includes unlimited vector tiles, raster tiles, and terrain tiles for the length of the map session.". To me that sound like while I can still use my own map tiles, it would still costs the same as if I used Mapbox hosted tiles.

lukeqsee 6y ago
> To me that sound like while I can still use my own map tiles, it would still costs the same as if I used Mapbox hosted tiles. That's my reading of it, as well. Even though it's somewhat expected on the data collection side, it's decidedly unexpected that they not only require ToS acceptance, but also licensing fees for what used to be entirely free, OSS software. > Hopefully the OSS community can maintain a fork of the 1.x codebase. I'm sure this will happen. My company is trying to get some consensus around the best way to proceed. Email in bio if you're interested in taking part!
- josephcsible 6y ago
  Hopefully the fork will be GPL, so Mapbox won't be able to steal all of the work the new developers do and release it in their new proprietary product.
  - anamexis 6y ago
    Why not? Mapbox has been allowing us to steal the work of their developers and release it in our proprietary products up until this point.
    - josephcsible 6y ago
      Because if they can take all of the improvements from the fork, but the fork can't take any of their improvements, the fork will wither and die.

xfour 6y ago

Anyone have any experience with this? Seems to be MIT Licensed... https://github.com/robertleeplummerjr/Leaflet.glify/blob/master/LICENSE https://github.com/robertleeplummerjr/Leaflet.glify/blob/mas...

lights0123 6y ago
I would be more inclined to just keep using 1.x. That plugin is much less performant and doesn't have 3D or rotation.
severak_cz 6y ago
see this - https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-leaflet https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-leaflet

pheelicks 6y ago

What a shame. I guess they got sick of people taking their code and ripping out their API subscriptions. For anyone interested in an open source mapping library (that also has 3D support) that can handle raster data (including the Mapbox tiles), I launched a project 2 weeks ago that is the culmination of 7 years effort: https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/ https://github.com/felixpalmer/procedural-gl-js/. I must say (while acknowledging my huge bias) that I'm disappointed with how the 3D terrain works in the new Mapbox version. It is the top-billed feature, but the controls feel clunky, the terrain often disappears and they didn't even bother implementing distance fog to give the scene scale. When they announced the 3D feature last year I was expecting more.

leetrout 6y ago
Kudos to you. Was a cesium user for a brief period in time. This domain is deceptively difficult.
tuukkah 6y ago
procedural-gl-js is very cool tech! It's unfortunate it doesn't work globally, above 60 degrees north (yet?).
grandchild 6y ago
Very very cool :) Three observations: - Why have a vertical limit when rotating in 3D? I have to click on 2D to look directly top-down. This would be the natural result if I simply tilted the camera all the way downward, but instead it maxes out at some arbitrary angle. (Same the other way, I want to look at the horizon, but I guess there are bandwidth issues involved.) - Scroll zoom is waaay to slow. I have a mouse with an inertial wheel, so I can just let 'er rip, but this must be frustrating with a regular mouse wheel. - +/- keys don't zoom, like I'd expect them to.
- pheelicks 6y ago
  The camera limits are just defaults, and can be overridden. Manipulating a camera in 3D can be counterintuitive, so the defaults try to keep things manageable at the expense of flexibility. As you say, the further you can see the higher the bandwidth bill. If you really want to see the horizon, make the window narrow :) For the other issues, could you please file a issue on the repo? This is not expected and works great on all machines I've tested.

bdon 6y ago

Mapbox has been extremely generous in releasing their rendering libraries under a permissive license. Creating a map renderer that matches the user experience of Google Maps is a FAANG-level effort, and Mapbox GL also encompasses: * A single style specification format that works well for both base map rendering and data overlays * Parity across native and web rendering * Smooth SDF text rendering with decent i18n support * A font to SDF renderer that is open source: https://github.com/mapbox/node-fontnik https://github.com/mapbox/node-fontnik * A tiled data format that is open source: https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec I hope this licensing change can spur some competition among open source renderers. I’d recommend taking a look at: * Tangram: https://github.com/tangrams/tangram https://github.com/tangrams/tangram - another WebGL based renderer with some key advantages over MapboxGL JS such as custom shaders and canvas text * OpenLayers: https://openlayers.org https://openlayers.org has some vector and WebGL capabilities now as well * Harp: https://www.harp.gl https://www.harp.gl is another new WebGL option I've been working recently with Tangram, so contact me (see user link) if you have questions or are interested in collaborating!

mourner 6y ago
Thank you! I'd also like to list some of the building blocks of GL JS that remain open source and are heavily used in other open source projects: - GeoJSON-VT (fast GeoJSON processing) https://github.com/mapbox/geojson-vt https://github.com/mapbox/geojson-vt - Earcut (triangulating polygons) https://github.com/mapbox/earcut https://github.com/mapbox/earcut - Supercluster (point clustering) https://github.com/mapbox/supercluster https://github.com/mapbox/supercluster - vt-pbf (converting GeoJSON tiles to VT) https://github.com/mapbox/vt-pbf https://github.com/mapbox/vt-pbf - vector-tile (decoding vector tiles) https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-js https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-js - pbf (fast reading/writing of protobuf) https://github.com/mapbox/pbf https://github.com/mapbox/pbf - TinySDF (generating SDF from local CJK fonts) https://github.com/mapbox/tiny-sdf https://github.com/mapbox/tiny-sdf - Potpack (generating sprite layouts) https://github.com/mapbox/potpack https://github.com/mapbox/potpack - grid-index (spatial index for collisions/querying) https://github.com/mapbox/grid-index https://github.com/mapbox/grid-index - Pixelmatch (image comparison in render tests) https://github.com/mapbox/pixelmatch https://github.com/mapbox/pixelmatch - Polylabel (fitting labels into polygons) https://github.com/mapbox/polylabel https://github.com/mapbox/polylabel

ccmcarey 6y ago

How are they able to change the license of code that people committed under the 3-clause BSD license without the permission of those people?

1337_d00dZ 6y ago
It's open source code; you use it like any other open source code, ship the license with the software.
structural 6y ago
Read the BSD license. There's nothing preventing the code being redistributed in another product (in this case, Mapbox JS v2) under any license terms whatsoever, as long as the copyright holders are appropriately credited.
bdon 6y ago
I don't see an issue with this - It's well understood that this can happen with permissive licenses, although often it's from BSD -> GPL/copyleft license.
chrisseaton 6y ago
They aren’t changing the licence of the existing code.
josephcsible 6y ago
Because the BSD license is a permissive/pushover license, which let you relicense other people's work as proprietary. The reason that copyleft licenses like the GPL are better is exactly that they don't allow this sort of behavior.
- Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
  99% of the code in Mapbox GL was written by Mapbox employees on company time. The GPL would have made no difference.
  - 6y ago

harrisonjackson 6y ago

We tried to implement mapbox on a new product last week. I like the style options for the maps but their reverse geo lookup and local search performed poorly vs google maps. Pins dropped down the street from actual address and search results don't narrow in accurately using POI and city/state - for example "Chipotle Parker Colorado" rather than showing the 3 chipotles in Parker, CO lists: - the city "Parker, CO" - Parker street in Pueblo, CO - childrens hospital therapy center in Parker, CO It just doesn't match the behavior our users have - probably because they have been trained how to search using google and google maps. I am guessing the main use for mapbox is actually custom tiles and custom datasets but anyone using it as a replacement for google maps I'd love to hear if you were able to solve this without too much trouble. We preferred their API, sdks, and pricing over google maps but just couldn't get the results we wanted. https://docs.mapbox.com/search-playground/ https://docs.mapbox.com/search-playground/

lukeqsee 6y ago
Geocoding is really hard. :) https://opencagedata.com https://opencagedata.com seems to be the best around using open data and offer API compatibility (or did at last check).
et-al 6y ago
afaik, Mapbox's geocoding service was never meant to provide the lng,lat of retail entities. Looking over their API docs, you can search for points of interest (POI), but that's it: https://docs.mapbox.com/api/search/geocoding/ https://docs.mapbox.com/api/search/geocoding/ For your use case, you should look into a geocoding service [0]. And then you can display the location results with your mapping library of choice. Google Maps does provide an all-inclusive service, but as you've mentioned, styling is better with Mapbox (and pricing). [0] - Aside from Google and Mapbox, I've never used any of these alternative geocoding services: https://smartystreets.com/articles/is-there-a-geocoding-api-as-good-as-google https://smartystreets.com/articles/is-there-a-geocoding-api-...
- harrisonjackson 6y ago
  > The Mapbox Geocoding API does two things: forward geocoding and reverse geocoding. Forward geocoding converts location text into geographic coordinates, turning 2 Lincoln Memorial Circle NW into -77.050,38.889. https://www.mapbox.com/place-search https://www.mapbox.com/place-search I think "location text" is the part they are not parsing well. The screenshots all over that page show someone entering a couple of letters and getting the resulting POI with address. Unfortunately, we could not get reliable results using their web place search so maybe they just have better mobile sdks that are adding more filter data to the requests automatically ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

hvasilev 6y ago

Wait, I thought that open source was the panacea? Why are they switching away from it? Maybe if they used GPL they would have done better? It is as if people were exploiting their ideological free labor for personal benefits... weird how the real world works...

dstaley 6y ago

Could we change the title to more clearly reflect that this is a license change from a permissive to a restrictive licence? Maybe "Mapbox GL JS v2 no longer uses a permissive license"? I initially thought by the title that Mapbox had removed the library from GitHub completely.

tuukkah 6y ago
What is this talk about "permissive" licenses? It was open source, it's not open source any more. The Open Source Definition: https://opensource.org/osd https://opensource.org/osd EDIT: The title has now changed but it was "Mapbox GL JS is no longer open source", which is the point: they didn't change from an open source license to another.
- dstaley 6y ago
  To be honest I just wanted to see a more descriptive title specifically to avoid the tired, unproductive discussion of "what is open source".
  - tuukkah 6y ago
    No need to discuss what is open source as there are agreeing definitions by multiple parties (OSI, FSF, Debian etc.). How is it more productive to use terms like a "permissive" and a "restrictive" license for which there is no generally agreed meaning?

RivieraKid 6y ago

It's understandable. People tend to forget the obvious, that the primary goal of Mapbox is to make money. Investors have given their money to Mapbox with the expectation that they will get back more, preferably much more.

jmnicolas 6y ago
I have nothing against people wanting to make money but don't put a free product then yank it out under my feet once I'm comfortable using it (I'm not affected in this case since i don't use mapbox, but the CentOS treachery is still hurting). At least 50% of my work projects happen because the resources I'm using are free. If it isn't free, the project either doesn't happen, or I spend a few months coding what is missing. So I'd rather they tell me upfront that I can't afford their product than waste my time.
- RivieraKid 6y ago
  > but don't put a free product then yank it out under my feet once I'm comfortable using it Why? This strategy often maximizes shareholder value. Provide a free product in the growth phase and once you shake off competitors and build a moat (aka a monopoly), you start taking profits. Charging money during the growth phase will slow down the growth.
  - bigbubba 6y ago
    Because it's a dick move to waste people's time, and it's also a dick move to expect 'but I'm maximizing shareholder value!' to make people feel better about their time being wasted.
  - jmnicolas 6y ago
    I can't tell if you're serious or if it's sarcasm but I'll assume it's serious. First as bigbubba said it's a dick move and second, do you really want users that have no trust in your company. Google is missing a lot of potential users for its cloud business due to them killing products on seemingly random basis.

easbar 6y ago

Will bug fixes for Mapbox GL JS 2.x be backported to 1.x (by the Mapbox team)?

Doctor_Fegg 6y ago
From the Github issue: "Updates to the v1 releases will be made only for critical browser compatibility or security issues for a limited time."
- easbar 6y ago
  Right. Here is the link: https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162 https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-gl-js/issues/10162

mousebirdc 6y ago

We make a competitor to MapboxGL for mobile called WhirlyGlobe-Maply (https://mousebird.github.io/WhirlyGlobe/ https://mousebird.github.io/WhirlyGlobe/). It supports vector tiles & Mapbox style sheets, works on Android and iOS, even supporting Metal on iOS. Indirect mode in Metal, actually, which is no mean feat. WhirlyGlobe/Maply has been around a long time. It actually predates MapboxGL and it's used in popular apps like Dark Sky, as well as a ton of aviation apps and a not a few GIS apps. Engineers like to write their own, so we're going to hear from a ton of random projects here. And hey, more power to 'em. But you're looking for a fast, open source mobile map toolkit that's going to be around next week? It us.

plantain 6y ago

This is going to fracture the fledgling community building on mapbox-gl-js - I expect we'll see a divergent BSD version as a result. I regret building out on mapbox-gl-js rather than leaflet...

lukeqsee 6y ago
You can keep using v1.13 (or earlier) for now. It looks like there's significant community support for an independent, open fork (see my other threads). More on this soon.
shirakawasuna 6y ago
Tangram is pretty nice if you end up not finding / wanting one of the forks of mapbox-gl-js

pacofvf 6y ago

> Upon written notice to you, we may (or may appoint appoint a nationally recognized certified public accountant or independent auditor to) audit your use of the Services and Mapbox Software to ensure it is in compliance with these Terms. Any audit will be conducted during regular business hours, no more than once per 12-month period and upon at least 30 days’ prior written notice (except where we have reasonable belief that a violation of these Terms has occurred or is occurring), and will not unreasonably interfere with your business activities. You will provide us with reasonable access to the relevant records and facilities. LOL no.

Animats 6y ago

Forked from version v1.13.0, the last released tag with the BSD license. Sigh. I use this for something that doesn't use their map tiles at all. Hundreds of new forks on Github in the last few hours. Maybe there will be a semi-official community version.

lukeqsee 6y ago
It’s in the works! Lots and lots of community interest. Working out the details of governance, code hosting, etc., so that one commercial entity isn’t the sole controller of what comes next. Email me (in bio) if you want looped-in.
- Animats 6y ago
  Sent msg. I figured that would happen. I have one minor site that uses it, but others have much more significant uses.

nyuriks 6y ago

I have proposed MapLibre as a new home, unaffiliated with any existing project, but at the same time inviting maintainers from everywhere, including OpenMapTiles (I'm a big contributor there), as well as other entities. So far a lot of positive response on twitter, hopefully it will pick up. See original post at https://twitter.com/nyuriks/status/1336493514646052864 https://twitter.com/nyuriks/status/1336493514646052864 (includes a nice reply from MapBox CEO)

snickell 6y ago

We're working on a community-driven fork of mapbox-gl-js here: https://github.com/maps-gl/maps-gl https://github.com/maps-gl/maps-gl Our initial primary goal is to avoid fragmentation, and thereby support a healthy OSGeo community. Updating from mapbox-gl-js should be pretty smooth, I just pushed the first batch of release builds to npm for what will become maps-gl@1.13.0: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@maps-gl/maps-gl https://www.npmjs.com/package/@maps-gl/maps-gl

willfarrell 6y ago

https://github.com/GlobeletJS https://github.com/GlobeletJS is an alternative I've been following, can use mapbox styles

geoyogesh 6y ago

i dont think mapbox api should collect anonymous data since it become licenced product..... or provide ability to turn off the data collection from developer level instead of end user level...

gorkish 6y ago

Happy mapbox customer here, but unfortunately I expect some of the longshot feature requests may never see the light of day now that outside development contributions are going to go to zero. Is there any OSS or economical (Non-ESRI; non-Google) commercial solution for WebGL maps and vector base layer that supports non-mercator projections without hacks? (Arbitrary projections, not just distorting mercator onto a spehere)

redgc 6y ago

Related: https://aws.amazon.com/location/ https://aws.amazon.com/location/ Maybe won't be long until we see "Open Distro for Mapbox" like was done with Elasticsearch