<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Hi,<br><br>They can base a new license on Apache-2.0, but per the ASF's reuse policy the result is not the Apache License; the modified license text/name should avoid implying "Apache License + extra terms" and instead make clear that it differs from the original. Dify's current wording ("licensed under Apache 2.0, with additional conditions") risks that confusion.</div><div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">2025/10/15 22:03 Moming Duan <<a href="mailto:duanmoming@gmail.com">duanmoming@gmail.com</a>>:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><div>Hi,</div><div><br></div>In addition to its conflict with the OSD, I am also concerned that this license directly violates the reuse policy of the Apache License 2.0 (<a href="https://www.apache.org/foundation/license-faq.html#mod-license" target="_blank">https://www.apache.org/foundation/license-faq.html#mod-license</a>), which states that:<div><br></div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div>This means that the terms 'Apache License', 'Apache', and any similar references to the ASF cannot appear in your modified license, other than to state that it differs from the original. Also, you cannot use 'Apache' in the name of the modified license. Names like "Apache License with such-and-such clause", for example, are not acceptable, as they cause confusion.</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div>Moming</div><div><div><br id="m_4406430149528903909lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Oct 15, 2025, at 17:21, Shuji Sado <<a href="mailto:shujisado@gmail.com" target="_blank">shujisado@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p>Hi,</p><p>I\u2019ve reviewed the Dify license.</p><p>It includes terms that effectively prohibit offering the software as SaaS, which I believe conflicts with OSD #6. In addition, the blanket ban on removing or modifying frontend logos and copyright notices is far more restrictive than a typical attribution requirement and should be regarded as conflicting with OSD #3.</p><p>Accordingly, I don\u2019t think this license can be considered Open Source.</p></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">2025/10/15 17:56 Moming Duan <<a href="mailto:duanmoming@gmail.com" target="_blank">duanmoming@gmail.com</a>>:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>Dear OSI Community,<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Recently, I noticed that an AI agent framework platform named Dify (<a href="https://github.com/langgenius/dify" target="_blank">https://github.com/langgenius/dify</a> ) has become quite popular, gaining over 116K stars on GitHub. </div><div>This project claims to be \u201copen source\u201d and is distributed under the Apache-2.0 license with additional conditions, as shown below. </div><div>I think these additional terms may conflict with OSD6 and would appreciate the community\u2019s comments on this issue.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><pre style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:"Monaspace Neon",ui-monospace,SFMono-Regular,"SF Mono",Menlo,Consolas,"Liberation Mono",monospace;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(31,35,40);font-variant-ligatures:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><blockquote type="cite"></blockquote></pre></div><div><pre style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:"Monaspace Neon",ui-monospace,SFMono-Regular,"SF Mono",Menlo,Consolas,"Liberation Mono",monospace;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;color:rgb(31,35,40);font-variant-ligatures:normal;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial"><blockquote type="cite"># Open Source License
Dify is licensed under a modified version of the Apache License 2.0, with the following additional conditions:
1. Dify may be utilized commercially, including as a backend service for other applications or as an application development platform for enterprises. Should the conditions below be met, a commercial license must be obtained from the producer:
a. Multi-tenant service: Unless explicitly authorized by Dify in writing, you may not use the Dify source code to operate a multi-tenant environment.
- Tenant Definition: Within the context of Dify, one tenant corresponds to one workspace. The workspace provides a separated area for each tenant's data and configurations.
b. LOGO and copyright information: In the process of using Dify's frontend, you may not remove or modify the LOGO or copyright information in the Dify console or applications. This restriction is inapplicable to uses of Dify that do not involve its frontend.
- Frontend Definition: For the purposes of this license, the "frontend" of Dify includes all components located in the `web/` directory when running Dify from the raw source code, or the "web" image when running Dify with Docker.
2. As a contributor, you should agree that:
a. The producer can adjust the open-source agreement to be more strict or relaxed as deemed necessary.
b. Your contributed code may be used for commercial purposes, including but not limited to its cloud business operations.
Apart from the specific conditions mentioned above, all other rights and restrictions follow the Apache License 2.0. Detailed information about the Apache License 2.0 can be found at <a href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0" target="_blank">http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</a>.
The interactive design of this product is protected by appearance patent.
© 2025 LangGenius, Inc.</blockquote></pre></div><div><span id="m_4406430149528903909m_-3233672645881969861x-apple-selection:end"></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Best,</div><div>Moming</div><div><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the Open Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href="http://opensource.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<br>
<br>
License-discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:License-discuss@lists.opensource.org" target="_blank">License-discuss@lists.opensource.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br>
</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Shuji Sado</div><div>Chairman, Open Source Group Japan<br><a href="https://opensource.jp/" target="_blank">https://opensource.jp/</a><br>English blog: <a href="https://shujisado.org/" target="_blank">https://shujisado.org/</a></div><div>Japanese blog: <a href="https://shujisado.com/" target="_blank">https://shujisado.com/</a></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>
_______________________________________________<br>The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the Open Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href="http://opensource.org" target="_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<br><br>License-discuss mailing list<br><a href="mailto:License-discuss@lists.opensource.org" target="_blank">License-discuss@lists.opensource.org</a><br><a href="http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org" target="_blank">http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>
The opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender and not necessarily those of the Open Source Initiative. Official statements by the Open Source Initiative will be sent from an <a href="http://opensource.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">opensource.org</a> email address.<br>
<br>
License-discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:License-discuss@lists.opensource.org" target="_blank">License-discuss@lists.opensource.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org</a><br>
</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Shuji Sado</div><div>Chairman, Open Source Group Japan<br><a href="https://opensource.jp/" target="_blank">https://opensource.jp/</a><br>English blog: <a href="https://shujisado.org/" target="_blank">https://shujisado.org/</a></div><div>Japanese blog: <a href="https://shujisado.com/" target="_blank">https://shujisado.com/</a></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>