The License Switch; A Threat to Community Trust

HashiCorps decision to change Terraforms license has left many businesses and developers uncertain. The new BUSL license is vague making it challenging for companies to determine if their use of Terraform could be seen as competitive with HashiCorps offerings. This lack of clarity puts the Terraform community at risk as it undermines the trust that has been established over almost a decade.

The Ripple Effect on Open Source Projects

The OpenTF Foundation rightly highlights that this license change doesn't solely impact Terraform; it carries consequences, for the open source community. Developers and companies will now think twice before investing in an open source project fearing that its license could suddenly change overnight.
This hesitation has the potential to hinder innovation and the growth of communities which're fundamental to open source projects like Linux and Kubernetes.

Advocating for Genuine Open Source

The manifesto proposes that HashiCorp reverts Terraform back to an open source license, such as MPL or Apache License 2.0. This would ensure that Terraform remains an dependable tool, unaffected by the decisions of any individual company. In case HashiCorp declines the OpenTF Foundation suggests creating a version of Terraform under a community driven foundation, similar to how Linux and Kubernetes are managed.

Why I Support OpenTF

I stand in solidarity with the OpenTF Foundation in their mission to maintain Terraform as a genuinely open source project. Their manifesto resonates with the values of the DevOps community; transparency, collaboration and community led innovation. By endorsing this initiative we can guarantee that projects like Terraform continue evolving as open source.

What do you think?

The OpenTF Manifesto: https://opentf.org/