11 of 23 Core Open Source Projects Run on 1 or 2 People

(linuxstans.com)

58 points | by dxs 2 hours ago

16 comments

  • remywang 48 minutes ago
    > Eight projects, including … SQLite … show no grant or sponsorship in any public funding source the analysis checked

    SQLite has a list of sponsors right on the homepage https://www.sqlite.org/

    • thayne 29 minutes ago
      They define "public funding source" later as a list of specific funding organizations like OpenCollective. But that definition feels odd, and like much of this feels like it might be AI generated.
  • duhhhhh1212 15 minutes ago
    • functionmouse 11 minutes ago
      What makes you so confident in the results of that website?
  • compass_copium 1 hour ago
    …and the second person in how many of the two-person projects is Jia Tan?
  • roenxi 1 hour ago
    Reflecting the enormous effectiveness of free markets in the software space. If there was a strong regulatory system around software development it might cost orders of magnitude more to run a modern OS.
  • luqtas 1 hour ago
  • KazaNLP 1 hour ago
    TIL! sudo was the surprise on the list for me
    • manquer 54 minutes ago
      why though? number of maintainers is a function of how much work is needed now rather than how important the project is ? I would imagine sudo isn't getting that much commits/changes now. What would 10 maintainers do on sudo ?
      • umvi 10 minutes ago
        > What would 10 maintainers do on sudo?

        Well, if other projects with a glut of devs are a sign, probably integrate AI into it somehow

  • ChrisArchitect 29 minutes ago
    Related source:

    The people holding up the internet

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50002494

  • jszymborski 1 hour ago
    > "xz: The Backdoor That Put One Maintainer in the Spotlight"

    Do people who publish this stuff read this and think "this LLMism sounds good to me"?

    • pixl97 1 hour ago
      This is an editorial style that's been around a lot longer than I've been alive. Your causality may be a bit backwards.
  • vatsachak 1 hour ago
    Wait it's not AI agents waat
  • jdw64 52 minutes ago
    The problem with open source like this is that it’s too difficult to work on, and if you start studying just to be able to work on it, it’s hard to get noticed. Most core open-source projects start with optimization and are extremely difficult. But would people with that level of skill really dislike being noticed?
  • tamimio 37 minutes ago
    What scares me is the new generation are mostly tech illiterate just like boomers, only millennials and some gen x are lifting the tech world, now add AI to the mix and how it’s making newer gen are even dumber, the future is bleak.
    • afr0ck 26 minutes ago
      I am Gen-Z who works on the Linux kernel and who still values hardcore stuff. We need more support from the Gen-X and the Millennials. I try my best to hack on things, write and contribute patches to enables features that would otherwise only exist in proprietary software. I feel like the veterans are not supporting us enough. I get a lot of hate and push back just for trying. In my opinion, a society cannot thrive without elders providing support for the young. But the general atmosphere feels completely the opposite these days.
  • rrr_oh_man 1 hour ago
  • calvinmorrison 1 hour ago
    OK so we only need to employ 22 people as a WORLD to have these guys full time employed? when can we start enshittifying it?
  • throw0101a 1 hour ago
    Obligatory (and referenced in the article):

    * https://xkcd.com/2347/

  • singularityisne 2 hours ago
    [flagged]
  • bigyabai 2 hours ago
    23/23 were included in model training data though, so maybe the bus factor is a wash after all.