I think there is a lot of confusion (or misrepresentation) around Terraform and its license change:
1. There is Terraform project (that used to be open source and now BUSL), and there is Terraform Cloud SaaS (that was never open source)
2. Terraform project - includes CLI tool and HCL language. Terraform Cloud - is a hosted service that adds "enterprise" capabilities around Terraform.
3. If Terraform Cloud would also be an open source and people host it / repackage it, etc., and Hashi would change its license, that would be a valid comparison to Elastic and other license changes and would be reasonable. Changing a license on a CLI tool / language interpreter - is unprecedented. IANAL, but it's also unprecedented to make your own definitions of what embedded or hosted means - and if you read Hashi FAQ about license - it's just a bunch of nonsense (specifically in regards to what embedded and hosted means in the context of Terraform)
4. The only reason there are Terraform Cloud competitors (Like Scalr, Spacelift, Env0, Terrateam, and others) is because of how deficient Terraform Cloud is and Hashi's inability to execute properly. If Hashi would listen to their customers and customer success team and do what customers are asking - there is no way any of TFC's competitors would gain any ground. They are in full control of Terraform roadmap and prioritization - this gives a huge unfair advantage to them compared to any other competitor.
You "kill" competition and win the market by innovating and creating a superior product (talking about Terraform Cloud) and not by monopolizing market via license change and legal nonsense.
1. There is Terraform project (that used to be open source and now BUSL), and there is Terraform Cloud SaaS (that was never open source)
2. Terraform project - includes CLI tool and HCL language. Terraform Cloud - is a hosted service that adds "enterprise" capabilities around Terraform.
3. If Terraform Cloud would also be an open source and people host it / repackage it, etc., and Hashi would change its license, that would be a valid comparison to Elastic and other license changes and would be reasonable. Changing a license on a CLI tool / language interpreter - is unprecedented. IANAL, but it's also unprecedented to make your own definitions of what embedded or hosted means - and if you read Hashi FAQ about license - it's just a bunch of nonsense (specifically in regards to what embedded and hosted means in the context of Terraform)
4. The only reason there are Terraform Cloud competitors (Like Scalr, Spacelift, Env0, Terrateam, and others) is because of how deficient Terraform Cloud is and Hashi's inability to execute properly. If Hashi would listen to their customers and customer success team and do what customers are asking - there is no way any of TFC's competitors would gain any ground. They are in full control of Terraform roadmap and prioritization - this gives a huge unfair advantage to them compared to any other competitor.
You "kill" competition and win the market by innovating and creating a superior product (talking about Terraform Cloud) and not by monopolizing market via license change and legal nonsense.
Disclaimer: I work for Scalr.