Open Source Advocacy: How Spacelift is Responding to Terraform’s Licensing Change

Disclaimer: I do not work for, nor represent, Spacelift in any capacity. The following article is written from my personal perspective on the current situation surrounding HashiCorp's licensing changes and Spacelift's involvement in the OpenTF initiative.

Introduction

On August 10th, 2023, HashiCorp announced a profound change: shifting the license of their core products, including Terraform, from Mozilla Public License (MPL v2) to a Business Source License (BSL v1.1). This decision, which distances Terraform from its open source roots, has sparked significant concern within the tech community. As a staunch advocate for open source, Spacelift is among the companies standing up for Terraform's future through its support for the OpenTF initiative.

Read Spacelift's Blog Post on the Subject

Spacelift: A Commitment to Open Source

As a company with deep roots in the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) ecosystem, Spacelift understands the immense value that open-source tools like Terraform bring to the industry. Terraform's open-source nature is core to its value, fostering innovation, collaboration, and a level playing field that Spacelift believes in deeply.

OpenTF: A Unified Response

In the wake of HashiCorp's controversial decision, Spacelift is among the voices that have united under the OpenTF banner. This collaborative initiative seeks to preserve Terraform's open-source essence, which is integral to the IaC community that companies like Spacelift are a part of.

Learn More About OpenTF On Github

Spacelift's Role in OpenTF

Spacelift isn't just a passive observer; it is an active participant in OpenTF. By pledging time, funding, and resources, Spacelift is putting its commitment to open-source principles into action. This aligns with Spacelift's broader mission - to empower teams to leverage IaC in a way that's collaborative, efficient, and secure.

OpenTF's Manifesto

Why This Matters: The Business and Moral Case

For Spacelift and many other companies, this isn't solely a business matter; it's a question of principle. The transition from MPL to BSL by HashiCorp has significant ramifications, potentially stifling innovation and imposing restrictions on how Terraform can be used commercially.

Trust and Predictability

As Spacelift's blog post articulates, trust is at the heart of this issue. Businesses and developers invest in open-source projects based on a belief in the project's stability and openness. HashiCorp's licensing change threatens this trust, introducing a level of unpredictability that Spacelift and the wider community view as unacceptable.

The Path Forward: Forking if Necessary

OpenTF, with Spacelift's support, is ready to take bold steps to preserve Terraform's open source future. If HashiCorp does not revert Terraform back to an open-source license, OpenTF is preparing to fork the Terraform project under its original MPL license. This would be a step to ensure that Terraform continues to thrive as a community-driven, open-source project.

Join Spacelift in Supporting OpenTF

Spacelift invites other companies, projects, and individuals to join in this critical initiative. Whether by opening a pull request on the OpenTF manifesto GitHub repository, starring the repository, or sharing the initiative on social media, every show of support matters.

OpenTF Manifesto GitHub

Conclusion

For Spacelift, the fight for Terraform's future is more than a technical dispute - it's a stand for the values and principles that are fundamental to the open-source movement. As HashiCorp's decision sends ripples through the tech community, Spacelift stands firm in its commitment to open source, advocating for a future where tools like Terraform remain free, collaborative, and in service of the entire community.

Originally Posted on Medium

For the most current and detailed updates on this unfolding situation, I highly recommend following Spacelift's blog. As an active participant in the OpenTF initiative, Spacelift is committed to providing timely and insightful information on the developments surrounding Terraform's licensing change and the broader open-source community.