HashiCorp, a renowned software company, is known for its various software tools such as Terraform, Vagrant, Nomad, and Vault. These software were originally released as open-source under the MPL license. However, recently, HashiCorp made a switch to the Business Source License, which imposes stricter conditions and prohibits using the code to compete against HashiCorp.
This change in license prompted the open-source community to decide to fork the projects and create new ones. The flagship software, Terraform, has been separated into a new project called OpenTofu (where “Tofu” comes from the abbreviation TF for Terraform), which is now under the management of the Linux Foundation and uses the MPL license, similar to the original one.
Similarly, another software by HashiCorp, Vault, which is used for storing passwords, keys, and certificates for organizations’ security, has also been forked into a new project called OpenBao (or “Salapao,” a steamed bun in Thai) by the developer community. OpenBao continues to develop the source code of Vault 1.14.x, the latest version that still uses the MPL license, and is preparing to publish the source code on GitHub.
Sebastian Stadil, the main driver behind the OpenTofu and OpenBao projects, believes that if there are similar software projects where one is open-source and the other is not, people would prefer and should contribute to the open-source one more.
TLDR: HashiCorp, a software company, has switched the license of its popular open-source software such as Terraform and Vault to the Business Source License, leading to the community forking these projects. New projects called OpenTofu and OpenBao have been created, managed by the Linux Foundation, using the MPL license. These projects aim to further develop the original software while keeping them open-source. Sebastian Stadil, the driving force behind these projects, emphasizes the importance of open-source contributions.
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