What is the Open Source Maintenance Fee?

Open Source Software is free, but Open Source Project maintenance is expensive

Open Source Software is free, but maintaining an Open Source Project is far from free. We ask a lot of the maintainers of a project, including:

Triage issues
Answer questions
Keep build scripts working
Update software dependencies
Track security reports
Produce new releases
Tackle spam in the discussion forums and issue trackers
Maintain domain name registration
Renew signing certificates
And many, many other chores

Clearly, maintainers are vital to the ongoing success of an Open Source Project. The Open Source Maintenance Fee is a simple and sensible way to pay for the time and effort they spend sustaining a project.

If you, your organization, or your project meets the minimum annual revenue threshold (typically US$10,000) and depends on projects that require an Open Source Maintenance Fee, paying that fee is how you help sustain the projects you rely on.