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Why We Chose AGPL-3 for ObjectWeaver

· 3 min read
ObjectWeaver Team
ObjectWeaver Team
AI Infrastructure Platform

We chose the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPL-3) for ObjectWeaver. This wasn't a decision we made lightly. In the world of open-source infrastructure, the choice usually falls between permissive licenses (MIT, Apache 2.0) and copyleft licenses (GPL, AGPL).

We chose AGPL-3 to ensure ObjectWeaver remains a community-driven standard while building a sustainable business. Here is why.

1. Closing the SaaS Loophole​

The traditional GPL license has a well-known "loophole": if you run software on a server and users access it over a network (like a SaaS), you aren't technically "distributing" the software, so you don't have to share your source code.

This allows cloud hyperscalers to take open-source projects, wrap them in a proprietary service, and sell them without contributing a single line of code back to the community.

AGPL-3 closes this loophole. It treats network use as distribution. If you build a service based on ObjectWeaver and offer it to users, you must share your modifications. We believe this is the fair trade for using our core infrastructure.

2. The Dual License Model​

We are transparent about our business model. We follow a Dual Licensing strategy:

  • Community Edition (AGPL-3): Free for open-source projects, internal tools, and hobbyists. If you are building something open, ObjectWeaver is free forever.
  • Commercial License: For companies that want to embed ObjectWeaver into proprietary products or SaaS offerings without open-sourcing their code, we offer a commercial license. This funds our development and ensures we can keep building.

This model aligns our incentives with the community. We only succeed if ObjectWeaver is widely adopted, but we can also sustain a team of engineers to maintain it.

3. Infrastructure for a Zero-Cost Future​

As we wrote in Zero Cost Inference, we believe the cost of raw intelligence is trending to zero. In that future, the value shifts to the orchestration layer—the infrastructure that structures, validates, and routes that intelligence.

We want that infrastructure to be an open standard, not a walled garden owned by a single tech giant. By using AGPL-3, we ensure that the core standards of ObjectWeaver remain open and accessible to everyone, preventing vendor lock-in.

A Commitment to Engineering Excellence​

Finally, open-sourcing this project is a commitment to engineering growth. Building in public forces us to write better code, design cleaner interfaces, and listen to critical feedback.

We want to build a project with a strong community where we can all learn from each other. Whether you are a junior dev just starting out or a senior engineer with a long beard who knows all the answers, we invite you to contribute, critique, and build with us.