ProfessorNovaandClaude Opus 5
97dbff309c
Self-hosted knowledge management for SMEs: a split-screen Markdown editor whose sections an LLM refines while you write, and RAG question answering over the documents that result. FastAPI + Postgres/pgvector on the back, SvelteKit on the front, everything OpenAI-compatible and self-hostable. Squashed into a single commit; the development history stays local. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01CA43ZJda8Rbp2hKXNy8f6b
51 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
51 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
# Licensing model
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**Decision: Fair Source core (FSL-1.1-ALv2) + proprietary `ee/` layer.**
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## How it works
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- Everything outside `ee/` is licensed under the **Functional Source License
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1.1 with Apache 2.0 future grant** (`LICENSE` in repo root, text from
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fsl.software). Anyone may read, audit, self-host and use Pablan internally
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for free; offering a competing product/service based on the code is
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prohibited. **Each released version automatically becomes Apache 2.0 two
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years after its release** — the built-in trust promise: even if Pablan (the
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company) disappears, the code inevitably becomes true open source.
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- `ee/` is proprietary (`ee/LICENSE`), activated via license key. Planned EE
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scope: OIDC/Entra ID SSO, fine-grained permissions beyond the basics, the
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management insights module, audit log, priority support.
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- The free core is the funnel: small teams start free, grow, need SSO and
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permissions — that is where revenue begins (GitLab/Cal.com playbook,
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Sentry licensing).
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## Rules that follow from this
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1. **Never call it "Open Source"** in public communication — FSL is not
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OSI-approved. The correct, established term is **"Fair Source"**
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(fair.io). Using "open source" invites justified openwashing criticism.
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The two-year Apache conversion may and should be highlighted.
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2. **Core must never import from `ee/`** — enforced by import-linter in CI.
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The core only offers extension points (mode registry, frontend slot
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registry, `ee_hooks.py`).
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3. **CLA required from day one** if external contributions are ever
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accepted — without it we can never change the license later.
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4. **Register the "Pablan" trademark.** The license protects code; the brand
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carries the trust. This also neutralizes forks: a fork may not be offered
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commercially (FSL) and must be renamed (trademark).
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5. `LICENSE` (root) and `ee/LICENSE` exist from the first commit so the
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boundary is unambiguous in the entire history. The final wording of
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`ee/LICENSE` and the FSL fine print are owned by the legal co-founder
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with an IT lawyer.
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## Rationale (short)
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Considered alternatives: Open Core with MIT/Apache core (maximum trust, but
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competitors may resell the core), AGPL + dual licensing (self-hosting
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without distribution triggers no obligations → no revenue mechanism for our
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deployment model, only FUD), fully proprietary (loses bottom-up adoption —
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the only realistic sales channel for a three-person company). FSL + `ee/`
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keeps the auditability that our target market actually means by "trust"
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(every commit inspectable — critical when companies put their entire
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internal knowledge into the system) while protecting against the one real
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threat: a competitor commercializing our code.
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