Redis drops the BSD licence for source-available licences

2024-03-20 · Publisher : Redis · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

On 20 March 2024, Redis announces that future releases, starting with 7.4, will be dual-licensed under RSALv2 and SSPLv1. Redis acknowledges this is no longer open source by the OSI definition; cloud providers must negotiate terms.

### Background On 20 March 2024, Redis announces that all future releases will ship under source-available licences. Starting with Redis 7.4, the code moves from the three-clause BSD licence to a dual licence: Redis Source Available License v2 (RSALv2) or Server Side Public License v1 (SSPLv1). The vendor explains that most of its commercial sales go through the largest cloud providers, which "commoditize" its investments. ### Key facts - Earlier versions (7.2 and before) stay under BSD; the change is not retroactive. - Cloud providers hosting Redis can no longer use the code of new versions free of charge: they must reach an agreement with Redis. - For end users running Redis internally, the vendor says nothing changes; client libraries remain open source. - Redis acknowledges in its FAQ that the new licence no longer meets the OSI open source definition, and renames the free edition "Community Edition". - Redis Stack is to disappear with Redis 8, its modules being folded into the core. ### Why it matters For CIOs, Redis is a ubiquitous building block (cache, queues, sessions), often consumed through a managed service. The change makes a licence risk visible on a dependency taken for granted: teams need to inventory where Redis is embedded or resold, and check whether the use stays non-competing under the new licences. It also triggers a community reaction, with the Valkey fork eight days later. ### Takeaway First major licence change of 2024 on an infrastructure component, with immediate effect on architecture choices.

Tags : Licence, Open Source, Cloud, Données