Why pgEdge ‘Ripped the Band-Aid Off’ To Go Totally Open Source
The recent trend of software companies moving away from truly open-source licenses has been a hot topic. We’ve seen it with HashiCorp and the subsequent OpenTofu fork, and the database world is no stranger to this debate. However, distributed Postgres vendor pgEdge is swimming against the tide. They recently announced a full commitment to open source, transitioning key extensions like Spock, lolor, and Snowflake to the OSI-approved PostgreSQL License.
A Push from the Community
According to pgEdge CEO Phillip Merrick, this significant move was driven by the community and potential customers. Their previous “source available” license, which restricted using the code to compete directly with pgEdge, was a barrier. “We found we were excluded from a lot of the conversations in the Postgres community,” Merrick stated. The community, quite rightly, is wary of anything that isn’t strictly open source. This feedback led pgEdge to “rip the Band-Aid off and go fully open source.”
This decision reflects a growing sentiment in the tech world. While companies like Amazon and Elastic have clashed over the use of open-source code in commercial products, pgEdge decided that the benefits of full community engagement outweighed the risks.
The Enterprise-Grade Postgres Demand
The market is showing a strong interest in enterprise-grade Postgres solutions, especially with the rise of AI. Recent acquisitions, like Databricks buying Neon and Snowflake acquiring Crunchy Data, highlight this trend. Both aim to integrate robust Postgres solutions into their AI-centric data platforms.
In response, pgEdge is also diversifying its offerings, expanding support from its well-known distributed multimaster architecture to include non-distributed Postgres applications, ensuring high availability for critical workloads across the board.
A Shift Back to True Open Source?
Is this a sign of a larger shift? RedMonk analyst Stephen O’Grady notes a move back towards OSI-approved licenses like the AGPL, as companies realize that source-available licenses can create friction for adoption. In fact, a RedMonk study found minimal business value gained from switching to a more proprietary license.
Redis also recently moved back to an AGPL v3 license to ensure that cloud providers who use their code also contribute back to the community.
While the licensing landscape is complex and ever-changing, the core of open source continues to thrive. As GitHub’s Octoverse report shows, open-source projects grew by 25% year-over-year. For companies like pgEdge, embracing the true spirit of open source seems to be the most promising path forward, ensuring both community collaboration and long-term growth.
