Open Source Stream: CockroachDB

CockroachDB was conceived of as open source software. In the years since it first appeared on GitHub, we’ve tread a relatively typical path in balancing open source with creating a viable business. We’ve kept our core code under the Apache License version 2 (APL), launched a managed service, and gated some features for established companies under an enterprise license.

CockroachDB users can scale CockroachDB to any number of nodes. They can use CockroachDB or embed it in their applications (whether they ship those applications to customers or run them as a service). They can even run it as a service internally. The one and only thing that you cannot do is offer a commercial version of CockroachDB as a service without buying a license.

In order to continue building a strong open source core, this restriction has a rolling time limit: three years after each release, the license converts to the standard Apache 2.0 license. Our goal in relicensing with a time restriction is two-pronged: to simultaneously create a competitive database as a service while also providing a guarantee that the core product will become pure open source.

Resources:
Cockroach Labs http://cockroachlabs.com
CockroachDB https://www.cockroachlabs.com/get-started-cockroachdb
Why We’re Relicensing CockroachDB https://www.cockroachlabs.com/blog/oss-relicensing-cockroachdb
Business Source License https://mariadb.com/bsl11

Keep in Touch w/Rain:
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Blog: http://groningenrain.nl
GitHub: https://github.com/rainleander