In 2023, HashiCorp implemented more restrictive licensing for Terraform, stirring concerns about open source definitions. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation noted raised risks, particularly for single-vendor open source tools. Amanda Brock, CEO of OpenUK, champions increased use of open source to enhance data center efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Despite apprehensions about big companies exploiting open source without contributing fairly, Brock believes the potential risks of licensing changes are overstated. The emergence of OpenTofu exemplifies the market's response to such shifts, highlighting that forking remains a significant strategy for developers in the evolving open source landscape.
When you're able to use the specs openly and collaboratively to build something, you also can use the data that enables you to know when and how you can best use power.
I'm not going to say there's no risk, but we've also seen one of the first companies to move to Elastic come full circle.
If you're using a project that's got a number of big corporates using it, we're increasingly going to see anybody who risks shifting their licence hammered by forks.
Forking was once considered the 'nuclear option' for avoiding a specific leadership direction on software.
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