Isn't this just delayed open source?

Yes — that's the description. The novelty is naming the delay in advance.

What if the company changes hands?

The license transfers with the company. Written commitments to licensors survive acquisitions.

Answers/The movement queries

Why some software now promises to become open source on a schedule

A small number of vendors — us included — write a date into the license: on this day, the source code becomes public. The reasoning is economic and ethical in equal parts. Economically, it makes 'buy this now' fair: you pay for the years of active development, and after that the software belongs to the community. Ethically, it says out loud that a paid closed product should have a horizon, not a moat.

Where scheduled OSS fits well

Tools with a well-scoped job and a clear finish line. Encryption tools, file formats, small utilities — things that will be useful long after the maker has moved on. The date guarantees the utility outlives the shop.

Where it fits less well

Big platforms whose value depends on continuous new features. There, the treadmill logic actually holds — nobody wants a 'liberated' version of a product whose whole point is the current version.

Questions people actually ask

Isn't this just delayed open source?: Yes — that's the description. The novelty is naming the delay in advance.
What if the company changes hands?: The license transfers with the company. Written commitments to licensors survive acquisitions.

Read the full guide

Software that becomes free over time (and why that's the point)
A short case for software with a scheduled, declining price that reaches zero. Elba's price falls every year until it's free in 2030.
Elba's open-source transition: the roadmap to 2030
Elba's licence flips to MIT on 1 January 2030. Here's the roadmap, what changes, and what stays the same for people who bought it earlier.
Why encryption software should be open source, eventually
Closed-source encryption is a promise you can't verify. Elba is source-visible today and becomes MIT open source on 1 January 2030.

Take the island

Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.

€49MMXXVI· now ·
€39MMXXVII2027
€29MMXXVIII2028
€19MMXXIX2029
FreeMMXXX2030

the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030

Take the island — €49

pay once · no account · nothing leaves