Overview
The Freehold Software License is a source-available license that is designed for self-hosted software. It sits at the intersection of two groups' interests: people who self-host their software, and people who build and publish that software.
By promoting transparency and sustainability, The Freehold License can provide the contract that both parties are in search of: longevity.
Who is This For?
If you are a developer or an organization that wants to publish code for users to fork, modify, and redistribute, while also protecting the license key functionality in your software, then The Freehold License might be for you.
Or, if you are a user who cares about auditing the code that you run on your hardware, then software that use The Freehold License might be of interest to you.
Protecting Users
"Users" means end users of projects that use The Freehold License, and also developers of other projects that depend on a project using The Freehold License.
The Freehold License protects the interests of users by allowing forking, modification, and redistribution of the source code, as long as the license key functionality is left intact. This means that access to the source code cannot be revoked from anyone who depends on it. It means that businesses can build on top of software that uses The Freehold License and not have to worry about a rug-pull type situation.
Protecting Publishers
"Publishers" means the people who write and maintain source code that uses The Freehold License.
The Freehold License protects publishers by ensuring that their paid services remain accessible in redistributions of their software, allowing for their source code to exist in a public space where parts of it can be reshaped organically, but with protections that guard license key functionality. This allows for the publisher to benefit from re-distribution, giving them the ability to continue to maintain the software without undue extra burden.
Openness Diagram
The Freehold License is a source-available software license. The diagram below shows where The Freehold License lands when compared in terms of openness against other common software licenses.
MIT Apache 2.0 GPL v2 TFL ELv2 ... Proprietary
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
───┴──────────┴────────────┴────────┴───────┴───────┴──────────┴─────
◄────── more free ──────┤────── more restricted ──────►
Do's and Don'ts
Here are a few examples of what you can and cannot do to software that is licensed under The Freehold License. Essentially, if it's a paid feature, you cannot modify it in your redistribution.
| You can | You can't |
|---|---|
| Read, fork, and modify the source | Patch out a license-key check to unlock paid features |
| Self-host it, or host it as a service for your customers | Strip or hide the publisher's copyright and license notices |
| Sell support, consulting, or integrations around it | Distribute modified copies without prominently noting your changes |
| Build commercial products on top of it | Repackage and re-license it under different terms |
| Audit every line of code that runs on your infrastructure | Sue the publisher for patent infringement and keep your patent grant |
Attribution
The Freehold License is an exact copy of ELv2 with one change: the limitation on providing the software as a hosted or managed service has been removed. This is what distinguishes The Freehold License, making it well suited for software intended to be hosted by others, whether by users directly or by third party hosting providers.
Elastic License 2.0 is published by Elasticsearch B.V.; freeholdlicense.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by Elasticsearch B.V. in any way.