Fedora Evaluates Replacing Redis With Valkey
Due to Redis moving to a dual source licensing model using the Redis Source Available License v2 and Server Side Public License v1, many in the open-source world are now moving away from upstream Redis and onto new forks like Redict or Valkey. Valkey has developed the most industry interest as an open-source alternative to Redis moving forward. Valkey was started by the Linux Foundation with backing from Amazon/AWS, Google, Oracle, and other large organizations.
Two weeks ago marked the first stable Valkey release and the project has attracted the biggest following so far since the Redis re-licensing.
There's a Fedora proposal started by Jonathan Wright with AlmaLinux to replace Redis with Valkey:
"We will replace Redis with Valkey due to the recent licensing changes in Redis, which have rendered it incompatible with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) principles. This shift in Redis's licensing can impact Fedora's commitment to FOSS, potentially limiting users' freedom to modify and redistribute the software under the same terms. Valkey, a fork of Redis, emerges as a viable alternative because it retains a FOSS-compatible license and has robust community and developmental support. Adopting Valkey allows us to continue offering users a powerful in-memory data structure store without compromising on licensing restrictions."
The plan for Fedora 41 would be to replace Redis with Valkey and those having Redis currently installed would see it switched over to Valkey in a transparent manner using the "valkey-compat" compatibility package.
The Fedora Engineering and Steering Committee is evaluating the change but diverted it for two weeks to allow time for that Valkey compatibility packaging work to be completed.
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