Open source isn't dying because of AI.
It's dying because we all fucking suck.
Users. Maintainers. The whole ecosystem. All of us.
We fucking suck as users.
We use OSS to do our jobs. To build products. To make money. Our employers depend on it. Our startups run on it.
But the second a maintainer mentions compensation? We lose our fucking minds. "It should be free." "That's not the open source way."
Meanwhile we're extracting value from someone's unpaid labor every single day.
We file issues like we paid for a support contract. We demand timelines. We get snippy when our bug isn't the priority.
We're not customers. We're guests. Start acting like it.
We fucking suck as maintainers.
We wanted the GitHub stars. The conference talks. The Twitter followers. We wanted to be the person who "owns" that thing everyone depends on.
But now people actually depend on it and we're annoyed.
"Talk is cheap, show me the code."
So someone does. They spend hours on a PR. We ignore it for months. Close it with no explanation. Or we screenshot their issue and mock them publicly for not reading our minds about what we actually wanted.
We invited contributions then punished people for contributing.
We don't want to maintain projects. We want to be admired for maintaining them. Not the same thing.
We suck at this together.
Both sides want the benefits without the responsibilities.
As users we want free, maintained, high quality software but won't contribute a damn thing. Not money. Not code. Not even basic respect.
As maintainers we want the status of running critical infrastructure but won't communicate, won't collaborate, won't treat people like humans.
We all know this shit doesn't work. And yet here we are.
Okay Josh, what do you suggest then?
If we use OSS and profit from it, we contribute something. Anything. Money, docs, triage, kindness. We stop expecting infinite free labor.
If we maintain OSS and we're burnt out, we say so. Archive it. Hand it off. Ghosting is worse than walking away.
And if we can't treat each other with basic respect? We don't get to participate. Full stop.
Open source runs on people. On us.
None of us owe each other a god damn thing. But we could choose to stop being assholes and do better anyway.
FOR YOUR BETTER IMAGINATION
1. Imagine the entire population of a small city like Flagstaff, #Arizona. Israel obliterated every single one of these lives.
2. Imagine about 19 sold-out Broadway theaters, each with approximately 2,700 attendees. #Israel extinguished all their futures.
3. Imagine 100 fully-loaded passenger jets, each carrying 500 people. Israel brought every one of these planes down.
4. Imagine 625 #elementary schools, each with around 80 students. Israel silenced all these children's laughter forever.
5. Imagine about 70% of the capacity of an #NFL stadium like Lambeau Field. Israel turned this massive crowd into casualties.
6. Imagine 1,250 average-sized wedding receptions, each with 40 guests. Israel transformed all these celebrations into funerals.
7. Imagine 500 apartment buildings, each housing about 100 residents. Israel reduced these homes and their inhabitants to rubble.
8. Imagine 1,000 high school graduating classes, each with 50 students. Israel ensured these young people would never fulfill their dreams.
9. Imagine the entire student population of a very large university system. Israel eliminated this entire generation of scholars.
10. Imagine 200 fully-booked cruise ships, each carrying 250 passengers. Israel sank every vessel with all souls on board.