Open-source maintainer asks: what's the incentive to release anything open-source now?
MarcJSchmidt · x · 2026-10-17
Developer Marc J. Schmidt questions the current incentive structure of open source:
- Attention lasts about two weeks before someone rebrands your work slightly better under a new name;
- Open source either becomes pure marketing for established companies or an academic exercise where citations are the new target.
The post resonates with indie maintainers' fear of building for others' benefit and sparked debate on open-source sustainability.
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