Open Source Software is everywhere and has become a corner stone for modern software development. Ask any developer to remove all open source components from the software they develop, and they’ll be left with an very partial solution.

Software development is also a very dynamic field. The way we develop and use software these days is very different from 20 years ago. If you still remember a world with floppy discs, without internet and without cloud services, you’re getting old you’ll surely agree.  Open source collaborative development communities have played a key role in this dynamic.

All this to say that the times they are a-changing.

Starting with the 8.0 release, the software license will change from AGPL to MIT.

Why this change?

Here’s the rationale behind this change:

• Frepple choose the AGPL license in an attempt to protect the commercial Enterprise Edition of the software.
  This definitely worked, but we believe that this choice also has negatively impacted the usage and growth of the user community.
  A more permissive license will only boost the adoption of the software.

• The Enterprise Edition and Cloud Editions remain as today.
  While over 85% of our code will now be public and freely available, reserving the professional support and some functionality only for paying customers continues to be a key part of our business model.
  The open core model is a very common pattern for open source software companies.

And what does that mean for me?

Below is a more detailed comparison of these licenses. For the vast majority of users the license change doesn’t make any real difference.
Only if you want to use frepple as part of your own software you’ll benefit from the extra liberty.

New MIT license

You are permitted to use, copy, modify, merge publish, distribute, sublicense and sell copies of the software.
“Do as you like, just keep the copyright header and don’t sue us”

License comparison graphic from https://choosealicense.com/licenses/