Server Side Public License

The Server Side Public License (SSPL) is a proprietary/source-available software license developed by MongoDB Inc., and introduced in 2018.[1][2]

Server Side Public License
AuthorMongoDB Inc.
SPDX identifierSSPL-1.0
Debian FSG compatibleNo
OSI approvedNo
GPL compatibleNo
Websitewww.mongodb.com/licensing/server-side-public-license

License terms

According to MongoDB, the SSPL is based on the AGPL3 license, with the addition of a new section that "clearly and explicitly sets forth the conditions to offering the licensed program as a third-party service," requiring that those making the software publicly available as part of a "service" must make the service's entire source code available under this license.[2][3][4]

According to Packt writer Richard Gall, the most important new sentence in the license reads "If you make the functionality of the Program or a modified version available to third parties as a service, you must make the Service Source Code available via network download to everyone at no charge, under the terms of this License."[5]

Licensed software

In October 2018, the MongoDB database was released under the SSPL. The Debian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Fedora Linux distributions subsequently dropped MongoDB, citing concerns about the SSPL. Amazon released a compatible service named DocumentDB, and it appeared that the SSPL didn't succeed in capturing cloud revenue for MongoDB.[6][7]

In November 2020, Graylog announced that version 4.0 of its source-available release will be licensed under the SSPL.[8]

In January 2021, Elastic announced that future versions of their code in Elasticsearch and Kibana, licensed until then under the open-source Apache 2.0 License, would be dual-licensed instead under SSPL and their own Elastic license.[9] Critics of the re-licencing decision predicted that it would harm Elastic's ecosystem, and Amazon responded with plans to fork the projects for continued development of versions licensed as Apache 2.0.[10] Other users of the ElasticSearch ecosystem, including Logz.io, CrateDB and Aiven, also committed to the need for a fork, leading to discussion of how to coordinate the open source efforts.[11][12][13]

Certification with OSI

In 2018, MongoDB submitted the license to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) for approval. The company withdrew its submission in 2019.[14][5] In January 2021, following the re-licensing move by Elastic, OSI released a statement declaring that the SSPL is not open source and that it is a "fauxpen" source license instead.[15]

References
  1. "Server Side Public License (SSPL)". MongoDB. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  2. "Server Side Public License FAQ". MongoDB. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  3. Baer, Tony. "It's MongoDB's turn to change its open source license". ZDNet. Archived from the original on October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  4. "MongoDB switches up its open source license". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  5. Gall, Richard (2019-03-12). "MongoDB withdraws controversial Server Side Public License from the Open Source Initiative's approval process". Packt Hub. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  6. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "MongoDB "open-source" Server Side Public License rejected". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  7. "#915537 - MongoDB SSPL v1 license and the DFSG - Debian Bug report logs". bugs.debian.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  8. "Graylog v4.0 Licensing SSPL | Graylog". www.graylog.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  9. "Doubling down on open, Part II". Elastic Blog. 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  10. "'It's not OK': Elastic takes aim at AWS, at the risk of major collateral damage". Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  11. Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "AWS, as predicted, is forking Elasticsearch". ZDNet. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  12. "CrateDB Doubling Down on Permissive Licensing and the Elasticsearch Lockdown". CrateDB. 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  13. "Momentum Builds to Break Elasticsearch Licensing Deadlock". Datanami. 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2021-01-31.
  14. Horowitz, Eliot. "[Email thread reply] Approval: Server Side Public License, Version 2 (SSPL v2)". Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  15. OSI Board of Directors (19 January 2021). "The SSPL is Not an Open Source License". Open Source Initiative. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
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