Elasticsearch is open source, again (elastic.co)

Article summary

Elasticsearch is once again considered open source, as the company is adding the AGPL license option alongside ELv2 and SSPL. This change comes after a three-year period where the company changed its license to address market confusion caused by Amazon's offering. The decision to add AGPL is intended to provide users with more options and to pave the way for more open source initiatives. Elasticsearch's CEO expresses excitement about the change, citing the company's long-standing commitment to open source.

Main themes

• Open Source Licensing
• Elasticsearch and Amazon
• Market Confusion
• AGPL License
• Cloud Services

What commenters say

• The addition of the AGPL license option is a positive step for Elasticsearch, allowing it to be considered truly open source again.
• Amazon's fork, OpenSearch, has gained significant traction and may have surpassed Elasticsearch in terms of brand value.
• The decision to add AGPL is seen as a way to prevent cloud vendors from using Elasticsearch without contributing back to the community.
• Some commenters argue that the AGPL license can lead to 'shakedowns' where companies are forced to pay for a commercial license to use the software as a service.
• Others disagree, stating that the AGPL license is a widely adopted and accepted open source license that does not affect usage or popularity.
• The true measure of a brand's value is difficult to determine, but some metrics such as GitHub stars and stack overflow activity suggest that Elasticsearch still has a strong lead over OpenSearch.
• The change in license may not affect Amazon's decision to continue using OpenSearch, as they have already invested significant time and resources into the fork.
• Some commenters believe that Amazon would not switch back to Elasticsearch even if given the option, as it would be seen as an admission of incompetence.