Yes, the name of their license, Server-Side Public License, is a bit confusing because of the Public License part that sounds like the name of an open source li

Yes, the name of their license, Server-Side Public License, is a bit confusing because of the Public License part that sounds like the name of an open source license, but that's all. IIRC their communication at the time was somewhat confusing too, but the problem is solved now. Assuming no evil intents, MongoDB might have been confused themselves, genuinely thinking the SSPL was actually open source, since they tried to submit it for approval to the OSI. At the time it was unclear the license was not open source, even if some people immediately noticed issues with it.