Startup Beaker

Bear blog just switched from MIT to Elastic License after competitors kept forking their code to launch competing services. Founder Herman Martinus: "It hurts to see something you've worked so hard on get copied with only a few hours of modification." The new license allows code inspection, learning, and personal use - but blocks hosting as a competing service. Why this matters: • MIT/Apache licenses offer zero protection against direct competition • Source-available licenses let you stay transparent while blocking free-riders • Companies like Plausible, Grafana, and Sentry made similar moves • AI coding tools make forking easier than ever The lesson: Your code might be your moat, but your community and commitment are your real defensibility. Source: herman.bearblog.dev/license #startups#opensource