Elastic Inc. has announced a shift in the licensing of the Elasticsearch project, reverting back to AGPL after previously using Apache 2.0 and then switching to SSPL in 2021 to prevent anyone from offering Elasticsearch as a cloud service.
The crux of the licensing switch lies in the conflict between Elastic Inc. and AWS, the latter being the provider of Elasticsearch as a service. Following Elastic’s licensing change, AWS forked the project into OpenSearch and went their separate ways. Elastic stated that after AWS agreed to change the name, market confusion ceased, and now both companies are good partners.
Elastic’s approach will now include releasing Elasticsearch under the AGPL as a third option, alongside the Elastic License and SSPL. Generally, AGPL is considered more liberating as users can deploy the software for any service, but if any modifications are made and the software is offered as a cloud service, the modified code must be made available.
As of now, the code for Elasticsearch on GitHub has not been altered, but it is expected to be updated soon.
TLDR: Elastic Inc. shifts Elasticsearch licensing back to AGPL after a stint with Apache 2.0 and SSPL, resolving conflicts with AWS and offering AGPL as a new licensing option.
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