Version 8 of Redis fully embraces the use of AGPLv3 licensing, transforming into open source once again.

Redis has released version 8 in full after announcing it in close proximity to the Valkey project last year. Alongside this release, they have also decided to switch to using the AGPLv3 license, which keeps them within the definition of open-source software.

In terms of performance, Redis 8 accelerates the speed of various commands, with some commands being up to 87% faster. This is achieved through a total of 30 improvement points. Some major features include:

– Vector to store data related to various artificial intelligence applications.
– JSON support where JSON can be used as a key and data can be extracted using JSONPath, or parts of JSON can be modified.
– Time series support for data grouped by time, such as stock prices and IoT data, suitable for both summarizing and long-term data storage.
– Probabilistic data storage, a new data storage format that accepts some level of errors but prioritizes speed. Useful for tasks like checking if the same data has been stored before, counting the occurrences of data, showing the most commonly found data, and finding data above or below a certain threshold.

The main highlight of this version is the “addition” of open licenses available for use. Instead of only being SSPL, users can now choose to use AGPL as well. Rowan Trollope mentioned that the initial choice of SSPL was to prevent cloud providers from using the code without payment. However, both AWS and GCP now have their own versions, and the open-source community did not accept SSPL. This led the company to change licenses once again, this time to AGPL, which aligns with open-source principles.

Both AGPL and SSPL licenses state that the code must be disclosed if modifications to Redis are made and the software is redistributed or offered as a cloud service. However, SSPL goes further by requiring the source code of other related software to be made public as well.

TLDR: Redis version 8 introduces performance enhancements and switches to AGPL license, providing improved speed and new features like vector storage, JSON support, time series, and probabilistic data storage.