No, the license disallows use of the software for seeing up a multi-user blogging system as a paid service.
You might say, "well wouldn't that be most of what people might want to do with it?" And you might be right, but so what? No one is entitled to build their business on the back of someone else's work, not without their permission anyway.
That certainly makes software like this no longer Free Software. But I'm not religious about it, and maybe that's ok sometimes.
(It also runs afoul of several parts of the OSI Open Source Definition, but maybe that's ok too.)
Not "as a paid service" just "as a service". The license does not allow me to stand up a Bear instance and let people blog on it for free.
> No, the license disallows use of the software for seeing up a multi-user blogging system as a paid service
This is incorrect.
https://github.com/HermanMartinus/bearblog/blob/master/LICEN...
> You may not provide the Software as a hosted or managed service that offers users access to substantial features or functionality.
It does not make the distinction around a financial transaction.