mirror of https://github.com/cirruslabs/tart.git
45 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
2.9 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
draft: false
|
||
date: 2025-10-27
|
||
search:
|
||
exclude: true
|
||
authors:
|
||
- fkorotkov
|
||
categories:
|
||
- announcement
|
||
---
|
||
|
||
# Press Release: Cirrus Labs Successfully Enforces Its Fair Source License
|
||
|
||
**New York City, NY – October 27th, 2025 – Cirrus Labs, Inc.**, a leading provider of platforms for digital transformation, today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement regarding a violation of its Fair Source License.
|
||
|
||
<!-- more -->
|
||
|
||
Cirrus Labs makes its Tart Virtualization Toolset, a leading virtualization toolset to build, run and manage macOS and Linux virtual machines (VMs) on Apple Silicon,
|
||
freely available on GitHub under the Fair Source License, a source-available license. Tart is used by tens of thousands of engineers at no charge within its generous free‑use limits.
|
||
Many large enterprises that need to exceed those limits support continued development through paid licenses. Cirrus Labs also uses Tart to power [Cirrus Runners](https://cirrus-runners.app/)
|
||
— a drop‑in replacement for macOS and Linux runners for GitHub Actions — offered at a fixed monthly price for unlimited usage.
|
||
|
||
Cirrus Labs discovered that, **despite a prior licensing request that Cirrus Labs declined due to a conflict of interest**, the company used Tart in a manner that exceeded the license’s free‑use limits,
|
||
in order to create a competing product.
|
||
|
||
After several months of negotiations, the matter was settled and a settlement payment to Cirrus Labs was agreed upon.
|
||
|
||
!!! quote "Comment by Fedor Korotkov, CEO of Cirrus Labs"
|
||
|
||
As a company we embrace healthy competition that ultimately benefits the end user. Most of our users have no trouble complying with our license,
|
||
and even when they need something more than our free use limits, we can almost always grant them a license that fits their needs. **This was an exceptional case.**
|
||
We are pleased to have reached this settlement, which validates our source-available licensing strategy and reinforces our commitment to protecting our company and serving our community.
|
||
|
||
Cirrus Labs was represented in this matter by [Jordan Raphael](https://byronraphael.com/attorneys/jordan-raphael/) of Byron Raphael LLP, a boutique intellectual property law firm,
|
||
and [Heather Meeker](https://www.techlawpartners.com/heather), a well-known specialist in open source and source available licensing.
|
||
|
||
The specific financial terms of the settlement and the identity of the counterparty remain confidential.
|
||
|
||
**About Cirrus Labs:** Cirrus Labs, Inc. is a bootstrapped developer-infrastructure company founded in 2017. Our offerings among others include Tart and Cirrus Runners,
|
||
and our software is used by teams at category-leading companies including Atlassian, Figma, Zendesk, Sentry and many more.
|
||
|
||
Learn more at [https://tart.run/](https://tart.run/) and [https://cirrus-runners.app/](https://cirrus-runners.app/).
|
||
|
||
**Contact:** [hello@cirruslabs.org](mailto:hello@cirruslabs.org)
|