Momentum is building behind open source Redis alternative Valkey with the announcement of new partners including Broadcom, the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, and Instaclustr by NetApp.

Valkey appeared after Redis revealed that it would be moving its in-memory database to a dual-license approach consisting of the Server Side Public License (SSPLv1) and the Redis Source Available License (RSALv2).

Shortly after the Redis announcement, Valkey produced its first release candidate with backers including AWS, Google Cloud, and Oracle.

The inclusion of AlmaLinux in the most recent announcement is unsurprising considering that many Linux distributions regard the new restrictions as incompatible with their open source models.

benny Vasquez, chair of the AlmaLinux OS Foundation, said: "AlmaLinux OS is excited to collaborate with the incredible folks working on Valkey. This critical open source project is proving its commitment to the open source ecosystem, and is enabling users to leverage a high-performance, scalable alternative to the closed source versions.

"This partnership underscores our dedication to supporting the open source community as it builds cutting-edge technologies, and fostering an environment of innovation."

The Valkey project said: "Communities are further driving the project's momentum by packaging Valkey in major Linux distributions including AlmaLinux, Fedora, and Alpine, as well as distros that support Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL).

"Distributions are making Valkey widely available while others, like Fedora 41 and Alpine, are actively taking steps to migrate users to Valkey."

While the Redis changes reflected a growing desire by companies to find a way of making open source pay, it is difficult to see these updates as anything other than one of the greatest foot-shooting incidents in recent tech history as Valkey, a Redis fork, continues to notch up backers.

Percona has already thrown its hat into the ring. In April, the company's CEO, Ann Schlemmer, noted the demand from the community for a fully open source project in light of the license changes.

As well as promising commercial support for Valkey deployments, Schlemmer said: "We understand the need for profitability and revenue around open source projects to fairly compensate maintainers and contributors for their efforts. Over the past 17 years we have been working in this model, proving its viability without bait-and-switch licensing changes."

According to the project, a release of Valkey is expected in summer and will feature changes including better IO performance, cluster stability and reliability improvements, and dual-channel replication. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/06/19/valkey_picks_up_more_partners/