[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":179},["ShallowReactive",2],{"NoscriptNav_XrRK2e2e8meJ0jKVGkb5ULGQDVi3UiFQ9nupAr7Yns":3,"\u002Freports\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers":8},["Island",4],{"key":5,"result":6},"NoscriptNav_XrRK2e2e8meJ0jKVGkb5ULGQDVi3UiFQ9nupAr7Yns",{"head":7},{},{"id":9,"title":10,"authors":11,"body":13,"canonicalUrl":166,"canonicalWebsiteName":167,"category":168,"date":169,"description":160,"extension":170,"featured":171,"fullWidthLayout":171,"image":172,"imageAlt":172,"location":173,"meta":174,"metaImage":172,"navigation":23,"path":175,"seo":176,"stem":177,"venue":55,"venueUrl":52,"__hash__":178},"reports\u002Freports\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers.md","Why and How Companies Should Pay Open Source Maintainers",[12],"vlad",{"type":14,"value":15,"toc":159},"minimark",[16,46,57,74,91,96,99,107,111,114,117,120,123,126,129,137,141],[17,18,19,20,19,38],"figure",{},"\n\t",[21,22,26,27,32,33,37],"video",{"controls":23,"width":24,"poster":25},true,980,"https:\u002F\u002Fvlad.website\u002Fstatic\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers.webp","\n\t\t",[28,29],"source",{"type":30,"src":31},"video\u002Fmp4","https:\u002F\u002Fvlad.website\u002Fstatic\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers.mp4","\n\t\tDownload the ",[34,35,36],"a",{"href":31},"mp4 video",".\n\t",[39,40,41,42,19],"figcaption",{},"\n\t\tOr watch on ",[34,43,45],{"href":44},"https:\u002F\u002Fyoutu.be\u002FUarZwUjFJpI","YouTube",[47,48,49,50,56],"p",{},"On 2 Feb 2025, I gave a talk at ",[34,51,55],{"href":52,"rel":53},"https:\u002F\u002Ffosdem.org\u002F2025\u002F",[54],"nofollow","FOSDEM 2025"," on improving the sustainability of the Open Source ecosystem,\ntitled “Why and How Companies Should Pay Open Source Maintainers”. This page includes information on this talk, as well\nas ways to submit your own feedback and views on these topics.",[58,59,19,62,19,69],"div",{"className":60},[61],"page-items",[34,63,68],{"className":64,"href":67},[65,66],"button","button--arrow","https:\u002F\u002Ffosdem.org\u002F2025\u002Fschedule\u002Fevent\u002Ffosdem-2025-4149-why-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers\u002F","\n\t\tSee talk info\n\t",[34,70,73],{"className":71,"href":72},[65,66],"https:\u002F\u002Fvlad.website\u002Fstatic\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers.pdf","\n\t\tSee slides\n\t",[17,75,19,77,19,83],{"style":76},"max-width: 40rem; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;",[78,79],"img",{"src":80,"alt":81,"loading":82},"https:\u002F\u002Fvlad.website\u002Fstatic\u002Fvlad-at-fosdem-2025@1000px.webp","Me speaking in front of a crowd of seated people at FOSDEM 2025","lazy",[39,84,85,86,90],{},"Thanks to ",[34,87,89],{"href":88},"https:\u002F\u002Fmerveilles.town\u002F@leo","leo"," for this photo.",[92,93,95],"h2",{"id":94},"join-the-conversation","Join the Conversation",[47,97,98],{},"Have feedback or ideas? I set up an issue tracker where everyone can share their thoughts.",[58,100,19,102],{"className":101},[61],[34,103,106],{"className":104,"href":105},[65,66],"https:\u002F\u002Fcodeberg.org\u002Fvladh\u002Fopen-source-sustainability\u002Fissues","\n\t\tGo to issue tracker\n\t",[92,108,110],{"id":109},"abstract","Abstract",[47,112,113],{},"In this talk, I present some economical arguments for why companies should pay the Open Source maintainers they depend\non, and I suggest some technological solutions for how this might be accomplished.",[47,115,116],{},"Virtually all companies use Open Source software, making a critical subset of the Open Source ecosystem crucial for\neverything from watching YouTube videos to working with medical records. But the companies that use Open Source software\nrarely pay the maintainers of the software they depend on. I explain that this can lead to serious issues in the Open\nSource ecosystem, such as the international security risks we saw with the XZ backdoor and the Log4Shell vulnerability.",[47,118,119],{},"I explain that, if companies paid the Open Source maintainers they depend on, the Open Source ecosystem would become\nmore sustainable and stable while retaining the significant economical advantages provided by Open Source governance\nmodels, and companies would benefit from this.",[47,121,122],{},"Next, I want to talk about how to actually pay maintainers. Forward-thinking companies have, in fact, shown their\nwillingness to fund the Open Source software they depend on. But it is not always trivial to figure out which Open\nSource maintainers a large codebase depends on, and how to actually pay those maintainers.",[47,124,125],{},"At thanks.dev, we have created a platform that scans companies' codebases to identify the Open Source maintainers whose\nprojects these codebases depend on. We then give companies an easy and financially transparent way to pay these\nmaintainers.",[47,127,128],{},"But dependencies often form a complex tree, and it is not immediately clear how much money should go to each\ndependency's maintainer. Current methods, though helpful, are simplistic. I introduce a new algorithmic technique for\nfund allocation, which uses a combination of coupling and complexity metrics to calculate which dependencies are most\ncritical to a certain project. Using this method can provide a better allocation of funds.",[47,130,131,132],{},"I am keen to hear the community's feedback on both my economical and my technological suggestions, and to further\ndevelop solutions together. ",[133,134],"span",{"className":135},[136],"ender",[92,138,140],{"id":139},"other-resources","Other Resources",[142,143,144,152],"ul",{},[145,146,147],"li",{},[34,148,151],{"href":149,"rel":150},"https:\u002F\u002Fopensourcepledge.com",[54],"Open Source Pledge",[145,153,154],{},[34,155,158],{"href":156,"rel":157},"https:\u002F\u002Fthanks.dev",[54],"thanks.dev",{"title":160,"searchDepth":161,"depth":161,"links":162},"",2,[163,164,165],{"id":94,"depth":161,"text":95},{"id":109,"depth":161,"text":110},{"id":139,"depth":161,"text":140},"https:\u002F\u002Fvlad.website\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers\u002F","vlad.website","funding-tech-infrastructure","2025-02-02","md",false,null,"Brussels, Belgium",{},"\u002Freports\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers",{"title":10,"description":160},"reports\u002Fwhy-and-how-companies-should-pay-open-source-maintainers","0hheIR1tfdPumDdQ9OlGw1qHRe_OOprQbMlpQmsZv44",1780596102871]