ScyllaDB open source license change

ScyllaDB, a high-performance NoSQL database, has announced a significant change in its licensing model. Starting with the upcoming ScyllaDB Enterprise 2025.1 release, expected in February 2025, ScyllaDB will transition to a "source available" license. This marks a departure from the company’s previous practice of maintaining separate open source (OSS) and enterprise editions.

Key Changes:

• Enterprise Becomes Source Available: ScyllaDB Enterprise will now be "source available," allowing users to view and review much of its core code while protecting intellectual property rights.
• Final OSS Release: The last open-source version, ScyllaDB OSS AGPL 6.2, will be the final release under the AGPL license.
• Free Tier for Smaller Deployments: The community will have access to a free tier of ScyllaDB Enterprise, which includes all full-featured enterprise capabilities for smaller-scale deployments.
• Updated License for Older Enterprise Releases: ScyllaDB Enterprise 2024.2 will adopt the new source available license starting with its next path release in December 2024.
• Manager and Kubernetes Operator: The Scylla Manager tool will move to an AGPL license, and the previously closed-source multi-region Kubernetes operator will be integrated into the main Apache-licensed Kubernetes operator.

Reasons for the Change:

• Unified Codebase: Maintaining two separate release streams (OSS and enterprise) has been increasingly burdensome, requiring repeated decisions on feature differentiation and support cycles.
• Limited External Contributions: Despite the sophisticated C++ "shard-per-core" approach, external contributions to the core database engine have not been significant enough to justify the cost of open-sourcing everything.
• Accelerated Development: The unified codebase is expected to speed up development and deliver updates and breakthroughs more quickly.

Benefits for the Community:

• Robust Free Tier: The free tier of ScyllaDB Enterprise remains fully featured, providing access to all enhancements previously locked behind an enterprise paywall.
• Enhanced Features: Expected advancements include higher throughput, lower latency, faster scaling, workload prioritization, improved compression, and enhanced compaction strategies.
• Improved Security and Manageability: Features like encryption at rest and LDAP integration will continue to be available for all users.
• Longer Life Cycles: Users can enjoy a more stable and extended support window for each release.

While this change may disappoint some traditional open-source users, ScyllaDB believes it will ultimately benefit the broader community by accelerating development and providing a more robust free tier. For more detailed information, you can refer to the ScyllaDB FAQ and the Linuxiac article.