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Open Source Maintenance Fee Open Source Maintenance Fee

What is the Open Source Maintenance Fee?

Introduction to 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 makes money, you need to pay the fee to each project you depend on that requires an Open Source Maintenance Fee.