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Blogging platform Bear is no longer open source, moves to source-available Elastic license (alternativeto.net)

submitted 4 days ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/opensource@programming.dev

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Bear Blog, a minimalist blogging platform focused on privacy and speed, has shifted from an MIT open source license to a source-available model in September 2025[^4]. According to creator Herman Martinus, the change restricts commercial exploitation while maintaining code accessibility for non-commercial use and security audits.

The new license prohibits for-profit hosting of Bear Blog or derivative services, while preserving the platform's commitment to "no-nonsense, super fast blogging" with no tracking or ads[^4]. This move mirrors similar licensing changes by companies like Elastic, which adopted a source-available model to protect against commercial exploitation while keeping code visible[^5].

"The original MIT license was selected without deep forethought, primarily to make the code easily auditable," explained Martinus on his blog[^4]. The shift aims to ensure Bear Blog's sustainability through its hosted version's modest subscriptions while preventing "open-source rug pulls" by larger corporations.

[^4]: WebProNews - Bear Blog Shifts to Source-Available License for Indie Protection [^5]: Elastic - License Change Clarification

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[–] entwine@programming.dev 7 points 4 days ago

Rug pulling a blog service? Seriously? Any first year student can make something like this. The name/brand is probably the only part that's remotely valuable, and a rug pull is a good way to fuck that up.