> So I hope somebody forks MongoDB from the version where it was open source.
To what end? Why should we use a fork that's supported by a few people when we can still use the Community Edition that's from the horse's mouth? The idea of forking things for the fun of it actually perpetuates the problem that we already have with OSS.
We want to get things for free, use them to make money, but still expect support for new features and bug fixes. This is worse when someone does this in their 'free time'.
Let's discuss the merits of forking from when it was open source. Percona has a fork, or is it not fit for purpose as they also adopted the SSPL thing?
Wait, how has a fork of MongoDB also adopted MongoDB's evil license? How are they able to take contributions from MongoDB and package them under the same license? Do they share the source code internally, or do they upstream changes that are in the open?
> Why the fuck should we care what their business model would be? That's for them to figure out.
Isn't restricting Amazon and others from profiting from their efforts part of figuring out this business model?
> But if they sell something as open source and they close source it, then we, the schmucks that bought into it, will point out that MongoDB is no longer open source and treat it as a proprietary piece that comes with the caveats of proprietary software, lock in, etc.
Did MongoDB sell you their product as open-source? Which specific product? Was it the Community database, or the Enterprise one?
Your argument lacks substance, because you're responding to someone who's asking why people are moving to another closed source product, one whose source code you can't even inspect.
The idea of free software is that user can (and have the right to) modify it in any way one wants. If I found a bug in free software, I can fix it by myself or wait for someone else to fix it, or pay someone to make a fix. That's the way it works.
It's likely that the outrage is from people who don't use MongoDB. A lot of my things rely on the Community Edition. Even with the SSPL, I'm still eagerly waiting a few more weeks to upgrade to 4.2, and take advantage of some of what's new.
If I found a bug, and was adventurous to fix it, I can still open a JIRA and submit a PR to the project ...
The license is no longer OSI approved, so how do you know what you're allowed or not allowed to do?
How do you know that what's keeping AWS from using it isn't also creating a problem from you?
Have you consulted with a lawyer?
That's one benefit of using actual Open Source. You have a definition that all licenses have to comply with, such that developers know exactly the set of freedoms that's common between all of them.
Once you step out of that definition, you're on your own. So you know, I wouldn't take legal advice from random people on HN, you might run into problems.
You're outsourcing your thinking to an organisation that's looking at specific definitions. Might be better to read the licensee and compare it with the previous one.
I can really recommend you to look at Free Software Foundation website[1]. In a nutshell: free software is like "free will", not "free lunch". It gives users four essential freedoms: to run it any way one wants, to study and modify source code, to redistribute copies and particulary redistribute modified copies[2].
As you can see, "open source" give s only half of those freedoms: to study code, it is not mandadory that you actually can modify it.
So, not all opens source software is free. Check out licence comparison and approvals page at Wikipedia.[3]
Thank you for the link. I was actually unaware of this organization. I was thinking that "open source" is more like a figure of speech, not ideology like "Free Software"
At the same time, we see a MongoDB example: a software, which definitely is open source, but also definitely is non-free.
Free software: free for modification, expansion or forking. Possibly free for profit (BSD license)
Source Available: Source is available but under restrictions. Locked room source viewing under NDA to confirm there aren't vulnerabilities for example.
To what end? Why should we use a fork that's supported by a few people when we can still use the Community Edition that's from the horse's mouth? The idea of forking things for the fun of it actually perpetuates the problem that we already have with OSS. We want to get things for free, use them to make money, but still expect support for new features and bug fixes. This is worse when someone does this in their 'free time'.
Let's discuss the merits of forking from when it was open source. Percona has a fork, or is it not fit for purpose as they also adopted the SSPL thing?
Wait, how has a fork of MongoDB also adopted MongoDB's evil license? How are they able to take contributions from MongoDB and package them under the same license? Do they share the source code internally, or do they upstream changes that are in the open?
> Why the fuck should we care what their business model would be? That's for them to figure out.
Isn't restricting Amazon and others from profiting from their efforts part of figuring out this business model?
> But if they sell something as open source and they close source it, then we, the schmucks that bought into it, will point out that MongoDB is no longer open source and treat it as a proprietary piece that comes with the caveats of proprietary software, lock in, etc.
Did MongoDB sell you their product as open-source? Which specific product? Was it the Community database, or the Enterprise one? Your argument lacks substance, because you're responding to someone who's asking why people are moving to another closed source product, one whose source code you can't even inspect.