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[1]. 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[1:1]. 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[2].
“The original MIT license was selected without deep forethought, primarily to make the code easily auditable,” explained Martinus on his blog[1:2]. 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.
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.
