> /v1/glossary/source-available · LICENSE-MODEL
Source-Available
Software whose source is published but whose license imposes restrictions that prevent it from being open source.
Source-available is a category of software where the source code is publicly readable, but the license includes restrictions that prevent it from qualifying as open source under the OSI's Open Source Definition.
Common restrictions in source-available licenses: - Limits on commercial use (e.g., can't sell it as a service) - Field-of-use restrictions (e.g., can't use it for surveillance or weapons) - Time-bound restrictions (e.g., free for 4 years, then converts to OSS — this is BSL) - User-count or revenue-tier limits
Examples: BSL (HashiCorp Terraform, Sentry, MariaDB), Elastic License v2, Functional Source License (FSL), Commons Clause, Confluent Community License.
Source-available licenses occupy a middle ground between proprietary and open source: you can read the code, contribute fixes, and self-host for personal use — but commercial use is restricted in ways the OSI doesn't approve.
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