Why We Open Sourced RisingWave Under Apache 2.0 License

RisingWave, the distributed SQL streaming database, recently celebrated a significant milestone with the achievement of 1000 members in our Slack community. This event marks a momentous occasion for RisingWave, a project we have diligently worked on for the past three years.

From its initial release on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license, RisingWave has garnered considerable attention, attracting numerous companies that have successfully deployed it in production to support real-time applications across diverse industries, such as manufacturing, e-commerce, fintech, SaaS, and more.

Many have inquired about our rationale behind open sourcing RisingWave under the Apache 2.0 license and questioned whether we plan to change the license in the future. We want to address these queries with utmost transparency.

Here are the top three reasons why we adhere to Apache 2.0 License:

Promoting Stream Processing Technology: Despite being studied for over two decades, stream processing technology is still in its early stages in the market. Many people still need to learn about stream processing and its benefits. By open sourcing RisingWave, we aim to advocate and promote this technology, making it accessible to a broader audience rather than catering solely to a select group of professionals.
Transparency and Vendor Neutrality: Transparency is of utmost importance to us. Customers deserve a complete understanding of how the product they use operates. Open sourcing RisingWave eliminates the black box approach and prevents vendor lock-in, granting users greater control and flexibility.
Community Feedback and Improvement: Collecting user feedback is crucial in building an exceptional product. Open source facilitates wider adoption, encouraging the community to provide timely feedback, which helps us enhance and refine RisingWave.

From a commercialization standpoint, we have compelling reasons to open source RisingWave under the Apache 2.0 license. Contrary to concerns, this move does not harm our business but drives us to deliver an even better product to our customers. It is strategic:

Alignment with Cloud Services Trend: In the era of cloud services, SaaS vendors provide not just technology but also valuable services and support. Companies prefer to focus on developing their core products rather than investing resources in maintaining backend systems. By open sourcing RisingWave, we align with this trend and prioritize our customers' needs.
Anticipating Industry Adoption: We are also confident that stream processing technology will witness widespread adoption across various companies, much like the popular MySQL and PostgreSQL. Even if we decided not to open source RisingWave, others might create similar solutions and make them open source, reflecting the inevitability of this technology's proliferation.
Democratizing Stream Processing: Since day one, our objective has been to democratize stream processing, making it simple, affordable, and accessible. Through open sourcing RisingWave and serving the community, we are highly motivated to continue improving the product, extending the benefits of stream processing to an even larger audience.