[haileyok]

The Bluesky app and the protocol it is built on are open source, MIT licensed.

The app is built using React/React Native as well as a variety of other open source tools. We maintain multiple React Native libraries as well that are open source.

The network is open, and anyone has access to the firehose. Third parties are free to run labelers that integrate with the application as well as build feeds which can be used by yourself or others inside the app. Anyone is free to use the open source SDKs to build their own third-party Bluesky apps or entirely unique applications using atprotocol.

To be frank, "it's just an app that happens to be open source" seems to be a pretty bad faith take on what Bluesky is.

[solarkraft]

So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters.

The apps being open source is great of course, but the standards for openness are very high for (something aiming to be) internet-level infrastructure.

A single company having a lot of control would be a bit of a red flag in this context. The rug pull incentives are huge (that said I am a proponent of commercial interests in open ecosystems, provided they don’t get too much control).

[haileyok]

Yes, it is absolutely possible to build on atprotocol and be a part of the network. We have written a good bit about this already here: https://atproto.com/articles/atproto-for-distsys-engineers (in addition to the recently updated documentation in general)

[chokolad]

> So ... can I run my own infrastructure that’s part of the Bluesky network? What rules does it have to play by? That’s what really matters.

You can run most of the Bluesky infrastructure and make it part of Bluesky network https://alice.bsky.sh/post/3laega7icmi2q