alt Hacker NewsThis is impressive - but is a license change, from the PostgresQL license [0] to AGPL [1].
I like the AGPL and think it's the best truly free open source license, but I worry if this is compatible. Ie, if this is rewritten from the original source, should the original apply? (Yes.) There has been a trend to rewrite open source software with a more restrictive license (like coretools in Rust). This looks considerably more ethical by choosing the AGPL - I just wonder, safer with no change at all?
[0] https://www.postgresql.org/about/licence/
[1] https://github.com/malisper/pgrust?tab=AGPL-3.0-1-ov-file
Replies
If you don’t like the license just let an LLM spend a few days “porting” it and give that port any license you like because that is apparently what we do now.
The PostgreSQL License is a variant of the BSD license and is therefore compatible with the (A)GPL.
Comprehend it this way: You create a blank (A)GPL project and incorporate the upstream BSD codebase into it. While those original upstream files remain under their original permissive license, the project as a whole is governed by the (A)GPL (plus the attribution requirements of the upstream license, which the GPL permits). From there, you can add your own code under the AGPL and distribute the combined work under the AGPL.
If someone takes your code and uses only your portion, they can use it under the AGPL alone. However, if they also include the upstream source code, then the attribution requirements of the upstream license must still be met.
The Postgres license is already fully compatible with the AGPL. BSD/MIT is more permissive.
Wow, yeah, really hate this.
If this software was written by a mechanical process, the license is a nullity. It’s public domain.
You seem to have the restrictiveness backwards? The MIT license (uutils coreutils) is less restrictive than the GPL (GNU coreutils), and the AGPL is more restrictive than the PostgreSQL license.
And it doesn't violate the PostgreSQL license to license the rewrite more restrictively. That's part of what makes MIT-style licenses less restrictive than the GPL or AGPL: they allow for more-restrictive relicensing.