Redis is forked

Redis, vectors, and GenAI

• Some were surprised Redis is leaning heavily into vectors/GenAI; others argue this is just a continuation of “answer queries faster” and caching, now with embeddings.
• Several comments clarify what vector databases are: primarily for similarity search over high‑dimensional vectors, not just simple key–value pairs.
• Debate over whether most users really need a dedicated vector DB versus “just store embeddings locally” (e.g., with ONNX for local inference) and whether specialized vector DBs are overhyped given Postgres/Redis/ES extensions.

Valkey, Redict, and other Redis-compatible options

• Many expect Valkey to become the de facto open fork: backed by the Linux Foundation, many core Redis maintainers, and major clouds (AWS, GCP, Oracle, etc.).
• Redict is seen as more ideologically driven; some are relieved Valkey stayed independent rather than merging communities with different priorities.
• Microsoft’s Garnet is noted as a high‑performance, Redis‑protocol‑compatible server, but it’s not a literal fork.

Licensing, cloud providers, and business models

• Strong debate around Redis switching from a permissive license to more restrictive terms (e.g., SSPL/BSD‑plus‑restrictions style).
• One side sees this as necessary self‑defense against hyperscalers reselling managed Redis without giving back financially.
• Others see it as a “rug pull” or “enshittification”: using open licensing to gain adoption and contributions, then closing off future versions.
• Discussion of alternative models: AGPL+commercial, BSL/SSPL from day one, open‑core, or licenses that only restrict very large companies.

Open source ethics and economics

• Some argue free software often amounts to wage theft when corporations build profitable services on top of unpaid labor.
• Others emphasize FLOSS as primarily about benefiting humanity and preserving user freedoms, not maximizing revenue.
• Personal anecdotes: maintainers pulling projects after companies monetized them without compensation, then making more money with proprietary licensing.

Practical impact and user responses

• Some plan to freeze on pre‑change Redis versions or switch to Valkey once stable.
• Concerns about loss of competition in hosted Redis offerings and potential price hikes when only the vendor can license “official” Redis.
• A few argue the safest long‑term path is minimizing dependencies or using only standard libraries to avoid future licensing surprises.