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<!doctype html>
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<head>
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<title>FCL - Fair Core License</title>
<meta name='description' content='The Fair Core License, or FCL, is a mostly-permissive non-compete Fair Source license that eventually transitions to Open Source after 2 years.'>
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<body>
<main>
<section>
<header>
<img src='logos/fcl.svg'>
<h1>
<span>Meet</span>
<span>the</span>
<span><em>Fair Core</em></span>
<span>License</span>
</h1>
</header>
</section>
<section>
<header>
<h2>
<em>Fair Core</em> is to <a href='https://fair.io' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Fair Source</a> what <em>Open Core</em> is to <a href='https://opensource.org' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Open Source</a>.
</h2>
<p>
A perfect blend of the <a href='https://fsl.software' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Functional Source License 1.1</a> <em>&</em> the <a href='https://www.elastic.co/licensing/elastic-license' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Elastic License 2.0</a> balancing developer sustainability <em>&</em> user freedom. Safely share projects with commercial features in <em>a single codebase</em> <em>&</em> under <em>a single license</em> while eventually contributing it to Open Source via <a href='https://opensource.org/delayed-open-source-publication' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>delayed Open Source publication</a>.
</p>
<h3>
The <em>pitch</em>
</h3>
<p>
The <em>Fair Core License</em>, or <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>, is a mostly-permissive non-compete <a href='https://fair.io' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Fair Source</a> license that eventually transitions to Open Source after 2 years.
</p>
<h3>
The <em>text</em>
</h3>
<ul>
<li>
<a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev/tree/master/FCL-1.0-ALv2.md' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>FCL-1.0-ALv2</a> (<a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev/raw/master/FCL-1.0-ALv2.md' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>raw</a>)
</li>
<li>
<a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev/tree/master/FCL-1.0-MIT.md' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>FCL-1.0-MIT</a> (<a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev/raw/master/FCL-1.0-MIT.md' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>raw</a>)
</li>
</ul>
</header>
<aside>
<h3>
The <em>FAQ</em>
</h3>
<h4>
What user freedoms does the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> offer?
</h4>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is a <a href='https://fair.io' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Fair Source</a> license that allows a user to read, use, modify, and redistribute a project, where "use" is any use case that does not compete with the business interests of the author. For the large majority of users, this will mean that the user can use the project how they see fit, since most users do not wish to compete with the author.
</p>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is designed to balance user freedom and developer sustainability, allowing companies to monetize their cloud-based and self-hosted projects, and safely share their core products without the risk of <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-rider_problem' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>harmful free-riding</a>.
</p>
<p>
For more information about Fair Source and the user freedoms and goals of the initiative, please see <a href='https://fair.io' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the Fair Source website</a>.
</p>
<h4>
What is a competing use under the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
Under the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>, a competing use is any use case that competes with the business interests of the author. For most projects licensed under the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>, this will mean creating a competing cloud or SaaS offering, but ultimately, this will depend on how a particular project is being monetized by the author.
</p>
<p>
But since the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> transitions to Open Source after 2 years, any user is free to use an Open Source version of the project for a competing use.
</p>
<h4>
How is the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> a blend of the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr> <em>&</em> <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr> licenses?
</h4>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is largely <a href='https://gist.github.com/ezekg/a96a419bd43a356c216a23c25dd2de86' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>based on</a> the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr> license, but includes additional limitations derived from the <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr> license. These additions make the terms more suitable for projects that monetize not only SaaS, but also self-hosting.
</p>
<h4>
How is the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> different from the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
The <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>, by design, offers little protection for self-hostable projects with commercial features, e.g. a self-hostable project with an Enterprise Edition and a Community Edition. In this example, under the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>, somebody could fork and modify the project to grant themselves the <abbr title='Enterprise Edition'>EE</abbr> feature set in <abbr title='Community Edition'>CE</abbr> without recourse.
</p>
<p>
The only way around that is to separately license the commercial features under a one-off proprietary license, but then those features will never become Open Source.
</p>
<p>
In contrast, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> allows you to safely share <em>all</em> your code under a singe codebase and license, and eventually contribute <em>all</em> of it to Open Source.
</p>
<h4>
How is the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> different from the <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
Like the <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr>, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> uses <em>license keys</em> to gate commercial features. However, the <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr> fails to protect users' long-term access to those commercial features if the licensor shuts down and is unable to renew license keys. After a user's license key <em>expires</em>, their access to the commercial features is lost forever.
</p>
<p>
In contrast, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> safeguards a user's long-term access by eventually converting to an Open Source license. We wrote about <a href='https://keygen.sh/blog/keygen-is-now-fair-source/' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>our journey</a> relicensing from <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr>.
</p>
<h4>
How are commercial features safely shared?
</h4>
<p>
Your project's commercial features can be gated with a <em>license key</em>. The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> includes provisions that protect those features from unauthorized access. Instead of separately licensing your commercial features under a proprietary license, e.g. all files in an <code>ee/</code> directory, they can all live under the same codebase and license.
</p>
<h4>
What types of projects are a good fit for the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
Projects with commercial features that are self-hosted or run on-premise, and want to safely share <em>all</em> of their code — not just <em>some</em> of it. If your project doesn't monetize self-hosting via commercial features, you may want to consider the <a href='https://fsl.software' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>FSL</a> instead.
</p>
<p>
In addition, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> may be an ideal choice for projects moving from a closed source model to Fair Source, because commercial features can simply be wrapped in a license key check, requiring minimal project reorganization.
</p>
<h4>
How does the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> contribute to Open Source?
</h4>
<p>
Like the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>, projects licensed under the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> will transition to an Open Source license after <em>2 years</em>, balancing developer sustainability and user freedom.
</p>
<h4>
What Open Source licenses are supported?
</h4>
<p>
Like the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> supports <a href='https://opensource.org/license/apache-2-0' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Apache 2.0</a> and <a href='https://opensource.org/license/mit' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>MIT</a> change licenses.
</p>
<h4>
Why only Apache 2.0 <em>&</em> MIT?
</h4>
<p>
We're following what the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr> chooses to support. More info can be found on <a href='https://fsl.software' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>the FSL website</a>. If you need something different, feel free to open an issue on <a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>GitHub</a>.
</p>
<h4>
How exactly does the 2-year period work?
</h4>
<p>
The 2-year timeframe applies to each software version made available, whether through pushing a Git commit, publishing a package to a repository, sending via an email attachment, or mailing out a floppy disk via snail mail.
</p>
<p>
For example, you could clone a Git repository, run <code>git checkout `git rev-list -n 1 --before='2 years ago' master`</code> and, given the <code>LICENSE</code> file is <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>, use that version under the Open Source terms of the change license.
</p>
<h4>
How is the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> different from Open Core?
</h4>
<p>
Both the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> and Open Core restrict access to certain parts of a project's codebase, particularly commercial features. In Open Core, these features are often closed source or separately licensed under an <code>ee/</code> directory.
</p>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>, however, uses <em>license keys</em> to restrict commercial features. The restriction method differs, but the effect is the same. Compared to Open Core, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> provides a simplified way to license an entire project — its core and its commercial features — under the same terms and in a single codebase.
</p>
<p>
For projects moving from closed source to Fair Source, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> can be advantageous because it doesn't require project reorganization. In Open Core, commercial features need to be extracted and separately licensed or made closed source, causing potential code churn and risk. In contrast, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> allows a project's commercial features to simply be wrapped in a license key check.
</p>
<p>
Another advantage of the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is that commercial features will eventually become Open Source. In contrast, an Open Core project's commercial features will never become Open Source, unless a proprietary license is used which is delayed Open Source.
</p>
<p>
Finally, the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is a non-compete license, unlike Open Core, which typically doesn't restrict on endeavor, though that also depends on the proprietary license used.
</p>
<h4>
Who's involved in the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> was drafted by <a href='https://heathermeeker.com' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Heather Meeker</a> and contributed by <a href='https://keygen.sh' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Keygen</a>. Heather is a lawyer well-known for her involvement in Open Source, having helped draft many licenses, including the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr> and <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr> licenses.
</p>
<p>
The <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr> is a derivative of the <abbr title='Functional Source License'>FSL</abbr>, created by <a href='https://sentry.io' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Sentry</a>, and incorporates elements inspired by the <abbr title='Elastic License 2.0'>ELv2</abbr>, created by <a href='https://elastic.co' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Elastic</a>.
</p>
<h4>
Who's using the <abbr title='Fair Core License'>FCL</abbr>?
</h4>
<p>
It's used by us, <a href='https://keygen.sh' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Keygen</a>, among <a href='https://fss.cool' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>others</a>, and we'd love for more to join in.
</p>
<p>
Add your project on <a href='https://github.com/keygen-sh/fcl.dev' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>GitHub</a>.
</p>
</aside>
<footer>
<p>
with <span>❤</span> by <a href='https://keygen.sh' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Keygen</a>
</p>
<p>
<small>
All trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners.
</small>
</p>
</footer>
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