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This sounds like the least arguable edge case possible even if they were interested in chasing it (which they wouldnt be).

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They wouldn't be... until they go under.

Then the vultures will be happy to shake folks down to pay for the licensed version or a law suit. Merit doesn't really matter, they have a claim and fighting it will cost you. They'll just bank on you preferring to pay for the license.

They may not go after the mom and pops, but they'll hit every Fortune 1000 (and probably whether they use MongoDB or not).

Also unlikely. Vultures go for easy pickings.

Although I admit that it's unlikely they will sue you for a product that isn't just a database, you shouldn't build your product on the (perceived) goodwill of the MongoDB developers.

Meanwhile, half the world start-ups base their entire tech stack on the goodwill of amazon and google, not to pull the rug from under them in hundreds of legal ways.

Using your definition of "goodwill" means basically everything on the Internet is based on the goodwill of some other entity. I think that paying for a service pretty clearly moves it out of the "goodwill" category.

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