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CockroachDB is licensed under BSL, so it is not really open source rather a source open or source available project. I checked their LICENSE file [0] and it men

CockroachDB is licensed under BSL, so it is not really open source rather a source open or source available project. I checked their LICENSE file [0] and it mentions bunch of other open source licenses with BSL. I randomly checked a code file [1] and it seems the code is licensed under BSL. [0] - https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/2c4e2c6/LICENSE https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/2c4e2c6/LICENS... [1] - https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/2c4e2c6/pkg/kv/db.go https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/2c4e2c6/pkg/kv...

IshKebab 5y ago
Very interesting. I'd never heard of it but apparently MariaDB uses it too. TL;DR is the source is available but you can't use it in production without paying a fee. However versions older than 4 years become truly open source, so you can use old versions for free. Interesting compromise. Might be better than "open core".
- vvern 5y ago
  That’s not quite right. You can very much use the bsl code in production without a license and many, many companies do. The BSL contains a space for additional use grants. In crdb’s license, you can use the product for anything except building a hosted database as a service product. The definition of what that is is a little bit vague but it more or less means that the users of the product you sell shouldn’t be able to cause schema changes. This is all just protection against cloud providers taking the product and reselling it. I believe also the terms of this bsl are that it becomes Apache 3 years after the code has been released.
  - IshKebab 5y ago
    You absolutely cannot use the BSL code in production without a commercial license. That's literally the first thing it says: > The Licensor hereby grants you the right to copy, modify, create derivative works, redistribute, and make non-production use of the Licensed Work. The Licensor may make an Additional Use Grant, above, permitting limited production use. Maybe specific software modifies that as you say, but the base BSL doesn't. I agree it's super vaguely worded ("production" isn't defined at all). Also it turns out MariaDB itself isn't BSL licensed - it's GPL, just some extra projects around it.
    - rafiss 5y ago
      > The Licensor may make an Additional Use Grant, above, permitting limited production use. See the text of the Additional Use Grant for CockroachDB [1]: > Additional Use Grant: You may make use of the Licensed Work, provided that you may not use the Licensed Work for a Database Service. > A “Database Service” is a commercial offering that allows third parties (other than your employees an contractors) to access the functionality of the Licensed Work by creating tables whose schemas are controlled by such third parties. (disclaimer: I work at Cockroach Labs) [1] - https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/master/licenses/BSL.txt https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/master/license...

IshKebab 5y ago

Very interesting. I'd never heard of it but apparently MariaDB uses it too. TL;DR is the source is available but you can't use it in production without paying a fee. However versions older than 4 years become truly open source, so you can use old versions for free. Interesting compromise. Might be better than "open core".

vvern 5y ago
That’s not quite right. You can very much use the bsl code in production without a license and many, many companies do. The BSL contains a space for additional use grants. In crdb’s license, you can use the product for anything except building a hosted database as a service product. The definition of what that is is a little bit vague but it more or less means that the users of the product you sell shouldn’t be able to cause schema changes. This is all just protection against cloud providers taking the product and reselling it. I believe also the terms of this bsl are that it becomes Apache 3 years after the code has been released.
- IshKebab 5y ago
  You absolutely cannot use the BSL code in production without a commercial license. That's literally the first thing it says: > The Licensor hereby grants you the right to copy, modify, create derivative works, redistribute, and make non-production use of the Licensed Work. The Licensor may make an Additional Use Grant, above, permitting limited production use. Maybe specific software modifies that as you say, but the base BSL doesn't. I agree it's super vaguely worded ("production" isn't defined at all). Also it turns out MariaDB itself isn't BSL licensed - it's GPL, just some extra projects around it.
  - rafiss 5y ago
    > The Licensor may make an Additional Use Grant, above, permitting limited production use. See the text of the Additional Use Grant for CockroachDB [1]: > Additional Use Grant: You may make use of the Licensed Work, provided that you may not use the Licensed Work for a Database Service. > A “Database Service” is a commercial offering that allows third parties (other than your employees an contractors) to access the functionality of the Licensed Work by creating tables whose schemas are controlled by such third parties. (disclaimer: I work at Cockroach Labs) [1] - https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/master/licenses/BSL.txt https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/blob/master/license...