MongoDB: The Database That Invented the SSPL and Pushed the World to FerretDB — A Deep Dive Into the License That Started the Wave
MongoDB switched from AGPL to the Server Side Public License in 2018, and in doing so launched the modern open-source license controversy. It never got a code fork — instead it got FerretDB, an Apache-licensed layer that speaks the MongoDB wire protocol on top of PostgreSQL. This deep dive covers the SSPL, why it is not open source, what Debian and the CNCF did about it, how FerretDB works, real costs, where your documents actually live, and an honest verdict.