[Question] - Separate Authentication Server

[gvassao]

This is a business question and not a technical issue. I tried reaching out by email to [email protected] which was then forwarded to [email protected] but I never got a reply back.

I've been using ABP for quite some time, but this is the first time I've developed a product that's moving to production. I'm currently in the process of deploying the application to production servers, which is very exciting.

However, I've come across something concerning, and I wanted to reach out for clarification. I noticed that the "Separate Authentication Server" feature for Angular is now behind a paid license. This raises a few concerns since my project already has a separated authentication server, which was created by the CLI before this became a paid feature. Here are my questions:

1. I've searched GitHub, Google, Stack Overflow, Discord, and the ABP blog, but I haven't found any posts addressing this change. Could you provide clarification why it was done?
2. Are there plans to move additional features that are currently free behind a paywall? For example, making SQL Server integration a paid feature would kill all of my projects using ABP. This is a significant concern for my team, as we're a startup without a steady income, and paying $3,000 for a license could be unsustainable for us. This risk has led my team to consider discontinuing the use of ABP since it can literally get us out of business even before we start.
3. What happens to projects with a separated authentication server that were created before this became a paid feature?
4. If I generate a new ABP 9 project without the authentication server, can I manually apply the settings I currently use in my ABP 8 project to maintain the separated authentication server? Do we have or are there any plans to have a documentation on how to do that?

I appreciate your help in addressing these concerns.

Thanks!