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

(linuxstans.com)

66 points | by dxs 2 hours ago

16 comments

  • remywang 1 hour 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 56 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 43 minutes ago
      • functionmouse 39 minutes ago

        What makes you so confident in the results of that website?

        • duhhhhh1212 21 minutes ago

          Personal usage over months. Third party evals. Not saying it's 100% accurate but it's close enough to trust. linuxstans.com news articles are mostly ai generated, it's a slop shop.

      • compass_copium 1 hour ago

        …and the second person in how many of the two-person projects is Jia Tan?

        • lgl 14 minutes ago

          Only a few months ago I read some article detailing the XZ backdoor and Jia Tan.

          It was a fascinating, scary and sad story. Can't really find the article right now, so here's the wikipedia article about it in case other readers don't get the reference.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XZ_Utils_backdoor

        • 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 2 hours ago
            • KazaNLP 1 hour ago

              TIL! sudo was the surprise on the list for me

              • manquer 1 hour 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 37 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

              • erelong 18 minutes ago

                "Now, with added AI assistance..."

                • jszymborski 2 hours 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.

                  • ChrisArchitect 56 minutes ago

                    Related source:

                    The people holding up the internet

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

                    • vatsachak 2 hours ago

                      Wait it's not AI agents waat

                      • jdw64 1 hour 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?

                        • rrr_oh_man 1 hour ago
                          • tamimio 1 hour 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 54 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.

                            • throw0101a 1 hour ago

                              Obligatory (and referenced in the article):

                              * https://xkcd.com/2347/

                              • calvinmorrison 2 hours 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?

                                • bigyabai 2 hours ago

                                  23/23 were included in model training data though, so maybe the bus factor is a wash after all.