HashiCorp has announced that they are changing the license on all their products, including Terraform, to exclude use by direct competitors, starting from version 1.5.5 onwards. This change affects only newer versions of Terraform and does not impact current users. The move is seen as a strategic decision to prevent competitors from using HashiCorp's open-source code and technology in their own products. However, this action has raised concerns about the ethics of such a move, with some arguing that it goes against the principles of open-source software. Despite this, HashiCorp claims that they are not trying to exploit their competitors but rather protect their intellectual property. The change is seen as part of a larger trend in the tech industry where companies are building commercial layers on top of open-source ecosystems.