In the end, I'm less likely to trust/use ANY non-floss software/services that doesn't have a clear and clean exit path. I can use CockroachLabs (CockroachDB cloud) as I can exit pretty cleanly to self-hosted PostgreSQL with other models. I can abstract the usage of say DynamoDB to target other options relatively easily as well.
That said, tethering deeply into rented services, or commercial+floss providers can only hook you in the end if things get too dicey. And you only need to look at Oracle and IBM/RedHat as examples of the hook you and reel you in approach. A lot of businesses are also pretty deeply tied into a given cloud platform. They all have nice to have, relatively easy to use features/services. If you don't have an exit strategy, you better have a fat wallet. It's not that it won't still be painful to exit, but without at least a strategy, you're trapped.
Officially they are not OSI approved but they go straight to the heart of the issue :
>>> has only two primary limitations. You may not:
Commercialize the software or provide it to others as a managed service Remove or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices
https://www.chibios.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=chibios:licensi...
The basic obligations of the AGPL which set it apart from other licenses
are as follows:
• Any derivative works of AGPL-licensed software must also use the AGPL.
• Any users of such software are entitled to the source code under the
terms of the AGPL, including users accessing it over the network such as
with their web browser or via an API or internet protocol.
If you’re using AGPL-licensed software like a database engine or my own
AGPL-licensed works, and you haven’t made any changes to the source code,
all you have to do is provide a link to the upstream source code somewhere,
and if users ask for it, direct them there. If you have modified the
software, you simply have to publish your modifications.
(Usual disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, etc.)
(Seems to be down though...not a good sign.)
It is unfortunate that the Migra project is abandoned, I believe djrobstep has gotten into political advocacy and spends most of his efforts on things other than programming at this point. I say unfortunate because he is extremely talented and I have learned a lot reading and working with his code. Hopefully he comes back at some point to help transition Migra to some other maintainers and fix the website and such :)
It's free software for normal use, Billion Dollar Businesses pay to use it like they pay for all their other enterprise software.
Disclosure, I know Nestor who's been working on this and he's got a lot more stuff coming very soon...
Some other options are:
* The Business Source License: https://mariadb.com/bsl-faq-adopting/
* The Commons Clause: https://commonsclause.com/
* Any of the "NC" Non Commercial Creative Commons Licenses at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
* Mongo DB's SSPL, but I don't think useful for you: https://www.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license
Some more eclectic options are:
* https://anticapitalist.software/
* https://civicwise.org/peer-production-licence-_-human-readab...
The interesting thing about the OS.Cash license, is that Nestor can optionally handle all of the negotiations, sales, billing, litigation, etc for a revenue share for developers that don't want to deal with running a software licensing business.
A licence which specifically forbids commercial use is by definition not an Open Source licence. This topic turns up a lot, here's a good bit of writing on it. [0] (Such a licence would also fail to qualify as a Free Software licence.)
One question I'd ask him (and anyone else reading) is: what are some other options for monetization?
Over the last few weeks I had three different VCs reach out to me about some of the open source projects I've been releasing, and ask me if I'd thought about making a business out of them. I told them that no, based on the problem the software was solving, I didn't see how I could adopt open-core or companion-saas business models, and I wasn't sure how else it could be done while keeping the code open source.
Can anyone suggest a viable business model that would allow:
* Code remains at least source available, ideally open source for non-commercial use.
* I can charge for commercial use.
* Actually doing the licensing is reasonable, ie no spyware or phoning home from the tool.
Wouldn't need to be perfect, I understand that if the code is open source a company could easily fork and use it without paying me. The idea would be to make it zero-headache to pay me for a license if the code is being used by a funded team.
The projects:
* https://github.com/peterldowns/localias
* https://github.com/peterldowns/pgmigrate