maintainer-burden

The stress and workload experienced by a few key developers who handle the majority of contributions and project management.

1 chapter across 1 book

Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software (2020)Nadia Eghbal

PART 2: HOW PEOPLE MAINTAIN 04: THE WORK REQUIRED BY SOFTWARE

This chapter explores the challenges faced by open source software maintainers in managing the overwhelming volume of contributions and demands on their time. It highlights the disconnect between the idealized vision of open source as a collaborative community effort and the reality that most projects rely heavily on a small number of maintainers while many contributors participate only once or minimally. The chapter also discusses how the modular nature of modern software, exemplified by ecosystems like npm, shapes lighter, more transactional relationships between maintainers and contributors.