FAQ: Snowplow Community License (SCL)
This FAQ is not a substitute for reading the license text.
What is the Snowplow Community License?​
This is a source-available license based on the Confluent Community License, with changes related to rights and restrictions.
How does the Snowplow Community License work in practice?​
Under the Snowplow Community License, you can access the source code and modify it; but you cannot distribute it or use it to make a competing SaaS or on-premises offering. In the license, the things that you are not licensed to do are defined as an Excluded Purpose.
The exact language
For purposes of this Agreement, “Excluded Purpose” means making available any on-premises or distributed software product, software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service, or another similar online service, that competes with any Snowplow products or services that Snowplow or any of its affiliates provide using the Software.
For example, this does not allow the hosting of any Community License version of Snowplow’s Snowbridge product, or other software licensed under the Snowplow Community License, as part of an online service or distribution of on-premises offerings, that compete with Snowplow products or services.
If you are not doing what is excluded, this license change will not affect your current use.
Is Snowplow moving away from open source?​
No, we do not plan to wholly move away from open source, but like many companies today, we need to adjust our mix of open source and source-available offerings, to ensure we can continue to have the revenue and resources to support our open source community users.
We remain committed to the transparent processing of data, with the source code available for users to inspect and run for themselves as part of our “glass box” philosophy. Our source code will continue to be made available under one of the following: the Apache 2.0 license, the Snowplow Community License, the Snowplow Limited Use License Agreement, or the Snowplow Personal and Academic License. (See the licensing overview.)
That means our software will remain transparent and available.
Can my company or I provide support to others who are running software under the Snowplow Community License?​
This license is not intended to stop you from providing professional services, such as development, installation, or support, to others who are running software under the Snowplow Community License. Clients can engage you to do this work for them as long as they themselves are complying with our licenses.
Can my company or I embed software under the Snowplow Community License in the software I distribute?​
Only the MIT and Apache 2 licensed software from Snowplow can be embedded and distributed. The Snowplow Community License does not grant you rights to distribute software licensed under it. You do not have the right to distribute components licensed under the Snowplow Community License as part of an on-premises deployed package, and you do not have the right to use them as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
I have commercially licensed software from Snowplow. Does this impact me?​
No, if you have entered into a separate commercial licensing with Snowplow, for example, buying a Snowplow BDP commercial product, then the commercial license terms you have agreed to will continue to govern your use of the software.
How can I contact Snowplow in case of doubts?​
For any further questions on licensing of Snowplow software, please send us an email at ip-portfolio@snowplow.io.