Published version update in app stores
community.bitwarden.com
Hello everyone! Starting in the next release, the Bitwarden apps published to the various stores will be the commercially licensed builds. No action is needed, and the apps will work exactly as they do today. Bitwarden remains committed to open source security and transparency The GPLv3 OSS licensed version continues to be updated and published on GitHub All current features are available in both versions License details are on GitHub Bitwarden remains committed to a robust, free forever plan...

RyanL Bitwarden Employee

Hello everyone!

Starting in the next release, the Bitwarden apps published to the various stores will be the commercially licensed builds. No action is needed, and the apps will work exactly as they do today.

Bitwarden remains committed to open source security and transparency
The GPLv3 OSS licensed version continues to be updated and published on GitHub
All current features are available in both versions
License details are on GitHub
Bitwarden remains committed to a robust, free forever plan for everyone

If you have any questions, please ask them in this thread. Thanks all!

EDIT:

Bitwarden is not going closed-source
You can still fork Bitwarden
No change to self-hosting, the licensing change affects those who are repackaging and reselling Bitwarden
The free plan is here to stay permanently
  • nibbler@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    161·
    23 hours ago

    But this is the post by bitwarden, defending their decision. AKA marketing.

    Can you explain how bitwarden can be “repackaged and resold”, that would be stopped by that change?

    Everybody can still fork/rename/publish the FOSS version which is continued to be available. Everybody can connect to vaultwarden…?

    • Buckshot@programming.devEnglish
      8·
      22 hours ago

      Yeah this only makes sense if the builds start diverging from the open source code, extra features that are closed source.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      5·
      20 hours ago

      Everybody can still fork/rename/publish the FOSS version

      Yeah, but there’s no guarantee the FOSS version will be the same as the closed one.

      • nibbler@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        1·
        9 hours ago

        There is certainty that the Foss version won’t be worse than current bitwarden client. Then those will diverge. So?

        • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
          1·
          9 hours ago

          The current FOSS backend used to be the center of the ecosystem. Going forward that may change. If it stops being that center and it becomes merely a token offering so Bitwarden can claim “we’re still doing FOSS” then it will become pointless.

          Simply forking the backend is meaningless without the work to also drag along the entire ecosystem, or establish a new one. Forking a project takes time, effort, vision, persistence, determination.

            • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
              1·
              7 hours ago

              Both backend and frontend revolve around the API, and Bitwarden owns that not Vaultwarden.

              If Bitwarden decides to modify the API so that only their closed-source backend has the full spec, and only gives that spec to their own apps, everything else (Vaultwarden and 3rd-party apps) will fall behind or become unusable.

              To counter that, Vaultwarden and the 3rd-party apps need to declare their own API and prepare to fly solo completely independently from Bitwarden.

              Such a move would force Bitwarden to show their true colors. If they really mean to stay true to the open version they will keep cooperating and keeping their API in sync with the Vaultwarden API.

                • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
                  1·
                  4 hours ago

                  If there are two version of Bitwarden backend (closed and FOSS), and the closed one changes its API, and the closed Bitwarden apps also switch to the closed API, then what value does the FOSS API have anymore?

                  • nibbler@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
                    1·
                    4 hours ago

                    What is “the API”?

                    The API is implemented by the bitwarden back end.

                    The API is also implemented by the vaultwarden back end.

                    The open source bitwarden client does talk the current version of this API. The open source client can be forked, so there is without much effort a version speaking this protocol in this version and is FOSS. Just the name will be different. I guess “vaultwarden client” would be fitting, but what ever.