CockroachDB, a distributed database system, has announced a shift to an open-source license for inspection only (source available). Previously, it was available for free use under the Business Source License (BuSL) in 2019 and was initially under the full open-source Apache 2.0 licensing in the early stages of the project.
This change in product development direction by Cockroach Labs itself indicates that moving forward, only the Enterprise version will be available. Subscribers such as individual developers or researchers, as well as companies with annual revenues below $10 million, can continue to use it for free on an annual basis (until Cockroach Labs decides otherwise). Previously, CockroachDB had up to three different feature sets, but now they will all be unified, except for the fact that free users will not be able to opt-out of sending telemetry data back to the company.
The trend of making open-source licenses more difficult to use in the open-source database industry has been ongoing for the past 5 years. Partly driven by the popularity of cloud-based databases, customers are less inclined to purchase support from developers as they believe cloud service providers take care of it for them.
Source: Cockroach Labs
TLDR: CockroachDB has transitioned to an open-source license for inspection only, with the Enterprise version being the only option moving forward, while continuing to offer free use for individual developers and small companies. The database industry is experiencing a shift towards more challenging open-source licenses, influenced by the rise of cloud-based databases.
Leave a Comment