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by markphip
978 days ago
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There is nothing inherently wrong with HashiCorp's license. What IS wrong is building a product and community and accepting contributions based on an OSS license and THEN changing that license when it no longer suits them. The reality is that whether it was HashiCorp, Elastic, Mongo or any of the others that have gone down this path, if they had just started out with their BSL-type license they likely never would have become successful and none of this would matter. Instead, they achieve success with an OSS license, then demonize their community and other companies that comply with that license but take away some of their revenue opportunities. I have been involved in OSS companies. These risks are all well known when the product is starting its life, and yeah it sucks when someone comes along and does a better job monetizing the product you created. That said, it is just so disingenuous for these companies to whine about it later. Do a better job. Build a better product and service. Find ways to add value you can monetize. Do not blame your community because your VC-funded company is not hitting the numbers they want. |
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Proprietary software licenses are inherently wrong, though.