Let’s say you build a backup software. You decide to use MongoDB as the internal storage engine for your backup catalog. You ship your software to clients (Docker container or binary) that includes a full MongoDB binary inside it.
MongoDB got tired of this. They created the Server Side Public License (SSPL) . The SSPL explicitly closes the cloud loophole. It states: If you offer MongoDB as a service to third parties, you must open source all the management software, APIs, and infrastructure code you use to host it. is mongodb community edition free for commercial use
MongoDB used to be licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPLv3). The AGPL was strong: if you modified MongoDB itself and offered it as a service to the public, you had to release your source code. However, a loophole existed. Large cloud providers (AWS, IBM, etc.) could take vanilla MongoDB, wrap it in their own management layer, and sell "MongoDB as a Service" without contributing anything back to MongoDB, Inc. Let’s say you build a backup software