StateForge is released under a dual license model. Designed to meet the requirements of different users and their needs for distribution and usage we offer StateForge under two flexible licenses. Whichever license model you choose, we are here to support you in your projects.
If you are developing and distributing Open Source applications under the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPL), or the GNU General Public License (GPL) then you are free to use StateForge under the GNU AGPL License, version 3. The formal terms of the AGPL can be found on the GNU website. Any software that uses code under a AGPL is itself subject to the same AGPL licensing terms.
AGPL is just like GPL, but more onerous. The GPL obligates you to distribute your own precious source code if you distribute binaries that use StateForge. The AGPL goes further, obligating you to make available to everyone your source code if you are using it on a network server for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or as an Application Service Provider (ASP). For example, if you are running StateForge on your server, to provide a SaaS services, you would have to give away all of your source code.
Under the AGPL, you must release the complete source code for the application that is built with StateForge, even if that application is running on a network server for SaaS purposes.
For licensing StateForge under alternate terms, so that you can use it without your own product becoming infected with the obligations of the AGPL, you should contact us to purchase a commercial license. We are also able to provide StateForge under the AGPLv3 license with a FLOSS exception.
When in doubt, keep this principle in mind: Unless you want to have all of the software you write be freely available to everyone, you should consider a commercial license. Further, if our software makes money for you, we would like to be paid too. Hence, our commercial license.
If you do not license the source code under the AGPL or GPL-compatible, but still like to include StateForge in your projects then we are able to provide you with a flexible commercial license.
The Commercial License is an agreement with StateForge for organizations that do not want to release their application source code. Commercially licensed customers get a commercially supported product with assurances from StateForge. Commercially licensed users are also free from the requirement of making their own application Open Source.
Here are some typical examples for a commercial distribution:
- Selling software that includes StateForge to customers who install the software on their own machines
- Selling software that requires customers to install StateForge on their own machines
- Building a hardware system that includes StateForge and selling that hardware system to customers for installation at their own locations.
Specifically:
-
If you include StateForge with an application that is not licensed under the AGPL or GPL-compatible license, you need a commercial license for using StateForge.
-
If you develop and distribute a commercial application and as part of utilizing your application, the end-user must download a copy of StateForge; for each derivative work, you (or, in some cases, your end-user) need a commercial license for StateForge.
AGPL users have no direct legal relationship with StateForge. The commercial license, on the other hand, is private license by StateForge, and provides a direct legal relationship with StateForge.
- To all commercial and government organizations, we recommend the commercial license. This frees you from the broad and strict requirements of the AGPL license.
- To all free software enthusiasts we recommend the AGPL license.
- To anyone in doubt, we recommend the commercial license.