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zerotier / ZeroTierOne

A Smart Ethernet Switch for Earth
https://zerotier.com
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License contradictions #2206

Open xabinapal opened 6 months ago

xabinapal commented 6 months ago

I’m trying to understand the ZeroTier license model. Specially after all the buzzing about HashiCorp’s transition to BSL, the same license used here.

I have no legal knowledge, but I think the info provided in the Pricing website (https://www.zerotier.com/pricing/) contradicts with what is specified in this repository. This is confusing and can keep users from using ZeroTier.

In the website it’s said that “hosting a network controller for commercial purposes” requires a license. Also, “commercial use” is defined explicitly as “any use of the ZeroTier platform and/or associated software as part of (or in support of) a revenue-generating organization”.

Based on that, if an organization is hosting a controller in any way, even for internal activities not related to a commercial product (such as an IT team to access remote servers), a license is required.

But the LICENSE.txt in this repository says the opposite: “Note that this does not apply to the use of ZeroTier behind the scenes to operate a service not related to ZeroTier network administration”.

Also, in https://github.com/zerotier/ZeroTierOne/issues/1023, the founder states that this kind of usage is allowed by the license.

Who should we trust?

BiatuAutMiahn commented 6 months ago

I'm baffled by this too. Also I scheduled a meeting, then got ghosted. Sat in that call for 2 hours. (to rule out a potential time zone) Emailed them twice and still no response. Just needed to know if we can use this to remote manage our workstations with or without a license and the pricing model.

joseph-henry commented 5 months ago

Sorry about the confusion guys, we're going to look into getting a better answer for you.

And, @BiatuAutMiahn I tried searching for any contact you might have had with the email you have listed but didn't see any history. Do you know who you were in contact with?

BiatuAutMiahn commented 5 months ago

Sorry about the confusion guys, we're going to look into getting a better answer for you.

And, @BiatuAutMiahn I tried searching for any contact you might have had with the email you have listed but didn't see any history. Do you know who you were in contact with?

Lizzy F. sent an email on 1/8 with a scheduling link with a Steve N. I also received an email from Steve asking about requirements, which I responded while waiting in the meeting after an hour on 1/11. After that I have nothing until 2/6 where Lizzy reached back out to schedule with herself.

joseph-henry commented 5 months ago

Ok thanks, @BiatuAutMiahn we tried looking you up again internally with the email on your public profile but we can't find a scheduling entry. If you can send an email to me at joseph@zerotier.com I'll make sure it gets to the right person. So sorry about the mixup here.

xabinapal commented 1 month ago

@joseph-henry are there any news regarding this? I've noticed the pricing page has changed, removing the FAQ entirely.

Also, unrelated, but on https://www.zerotier.com/community/ it announces a "ZeroTier Open Source Edition", while the LICENSE.txt file explicly declares that the license is not open source.

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BiatuAutMiahn commented 1 month ago

afaik as long as you self host it's free. Never really got a straight answer.