AWS-Elastic Feud: How It Began and What Lies Ahead

Open source has always been a path to strengthen technology platforms. Big tech firms have significantly broadened their acceptance of open source software, and one such player is AWS. However, a recent public spat between AWS and Elastic has deepened the divide in the open source community. The most recent turn of events includes an announcement by Elastic that they are changing their software licensing strategy and will not release new versions of Elasticsearch and Kibana under the Apache License.  Meanwhile, Amazon’s issued retaliatory response was that they were putting a fork on the project.  

This blow-by-blow account also gives a peek into the growing confusion over open source software and the questions it presents today.  For instance, how is it that many open source projects are built within for-profit companies? Plus, the Amazon AWS-Elastic feud has to do with two product versions, which are both called Elasticsearch. Let’s start at the beginning.

Learn More: Managing Open Source Code With Secure Software Development Framework 

The Birth of Elasticsearch

ElasticsearchOpens a new window started back in 2004 when Shay Banon built a software known as Compass, which eventually spurred the creation of what would become known as Elasticsearch, a free and open search and analytics engine that accommodates all types of data content including, both structured and unstructured. It can index this content for all types of uses, including application and website searches, security analytics and application performance monitoring, to name a few. It was built on the Apache License and released in 2010. It didn’t take long for it to find a community of users. Elasticsearch is part of what is referred to as the ELK stack. The stack consists of three popular open-source projects, the other two being Logstash and Kibana. Shay Banon’s company today is known as Elastic. 

AWS & Elastic: What Went Wrong 

In 2015, AWS tweeted announcingOpens a new window the introduction of the Amazon Elasticsearch service and a beginning of a great partnership between Elastic and AWS. However, Elastic claims that there was never a “relationship” between the two. Essentially, AWS copied Elastic’s free software tool and released it as a paid service. They called their version Amazon Elasticsearch ServiceOpens a new window or Amazon ES for short.

Elastic attempted to create new premium features exclusive to their own native version of the software, but Amazon duplicated them as well. Elastic filed a lawsuit in federal court against Amazon in 2019. They asserted that Amazon was in violation of its trademark by using the same exact name for its own release, thus confusing and misleading consumers. In the filed suit, Elastic went on to stateOpens a new window :

“Amazon’s wrongful activities have caused Elastic irreparable injury. Elastic is informed and believes that unless said conduct is enjoined by this Court, Amazon will continue and expand those activities to the continued and irreparable injury of Elastic. This injury includes a reduction in the distinctiveness of Elastic’s ELASTICSEARCH mark and injury to Elastic’s goodwill that damages cannot remedy.”

 

Also In 2019, Banon wroteOpens a new window , “Our products were forked, redistributed and rebundled so many times I lost count. It is a sign of success and the reach our products have. From various vendors, to large Chinese entities, to now, Amazon. There was always a “reason”, at times masked with fake altruism or benevolence. None of these have lasted. They were built to serve their own needs, drive confusion, and splinter the community. Our commitment and focus on building great products and communities, that users love, formed our way, and it resonated with you, our users. We built a level of trust with you, an expected rate of innovation, and amazing collaboration, that simply IS, and you saw it.”

Meanwhile, supporters of the filed lawsuit believe that Amazon is practicing software strip mining.  This is when someone uses software code for proprietary gain with no intention of feeding code changes back to the community.  Amazon calls the assertion of strip-mining open source silly and off-base.  AWS points out that they regularly contribute to open source projects, including Linux, Kubernetes, Xen, and even Elasticsearch.   

Learn More: Microsoft Serves Up Open Source Fuzzing Tool for Developers

Long-Running Feud Comes to a Head With Elastic Changing Licensing Terms  

In January of 2021, Elastic announced a new licensing agreementOpens a new window for its software in which they confirmed that they are moving away from their Apache licensed source code. All subsequent releases will only be available under either the Elastic License or a new type of licensing called Server Side Public License (SSPL). This licensing platform change will complicate cloud companies’ ability to sell managed versions of open-source projects involving their software. Their announcement stated that the move would have no impact on the overwhelming majority of its user community who use their default distribution for free or its cloud customers or self-managed software customers. The company followed up weeks later with a blog stating that their move was “aimed at preventing companies from taking our Elasticsearch and Kibana products and providing them directly as a service without collaborating with us.”

Amazon responded that as a result of Elastic’s decision, it would fork the project at hand. According to GithubOpens a new window , a fork is when one sets out to produce a personal copy of someone else’s project. It serves as a bridge between the original and personal copy. In their own published statementOpens a new window , Amazon went on to state that the decision to fork was not one taken lightly but “can be the right path forward when the needs of a community diverge—as they have here. An important benefit of open source software is that when something like this happens, developers already have all the rights they need to pick up the work themselves.” 

Impact on Open Source Community

Elastic has the right to change its licensing model.  But by doing so, are they not stripping away the very essence of what free and open source software is?  What about all of the community members that have contributed to its code?  Certainly, Amazon has a right to now fork as they deem necessary.  Then again, no one can debate the seemingly brazen step by Amazon to retain the Elasticsearch name to their own release and cashing in the returns.  It’s also not a stretch to say that other software companies are silently pulling for Elastic against the colossal cloud computing giant that can leverage its weight around to get its way. However, maintaining an internal forked version can also lead to wasted efforts. Like most sagas, this isn’t a cut and dry story but one that is discerned according to the eye of the beholder.

Do you agree with AWS’s decision to fork the Elasticsearch project? Comment below or let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!