The Linux Foundation has announced the launch of a new project called VALKEY, which will be focused on further developing the open code base of the DBMS Redis distributed under the BSD license. This project will be developed under the Linux Foundation’s auspices at an independent site, with the involvement of a community of developers and companies interested in continuing the development of the Redis open code base. Notable companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Oracle, Ericsson, and Snap Inc. have already joined the project.
The creation of this Fork project was prompted by a change in the licensing policy of Redis LTD, the entity responsible for the development of Redis. Starting with Redis 7.4, the decision was made to stop releasing new features under the BSD license and to distribute the project’s code under two proprietary licenses – RSALv2 (Redis Source Available License v2) and SSPLv1 (Server Side Public License v1). These licenses impose additional restrictions, particularly prohibiting the free use of the product for cloud service providers. The main distinction between the RSALv2 and SSPLv1 licenses lies in the fact that the SSPL license is based on the AGPLv3 license, while the RSAL license is based on the permissive BSD license.
The RSAL license permits the use, distribution, and integration of the code into applications, except in cases where those applications are commercial or used to provide managed paid services. Free usage is allowed for internal services, with restrictions only applying to paid services that offer access to Redis. On the other hand, the SSPL license extends to not only the application code itself but also the original texts of all components involved in providing cloud services.
This marks the third open Fork of Redis. Just last week, the creator of the user environment SWAY and the HARE programming language initiated a Fork of Redis 7.2.4 under the name redict, with the new changes being released under the LGPLv3 license. Additionally, Snapchat has been working on the keydb project since 2019,