The key role of organizational will in supporting and paying open source maintainers

Explore the barriers to supporting open source and how developers can make an impact.

Lauren Hanford, VP of Product at Tidelift, sat down with the All Things Open team to share her passion for supporting open source maintainers and the value of compensating them for their critical, many times invisible and thankless work. Tidelift partners with open source maintainers, paying them to uphold security standards while making their work available to customers. Lauren highlights the satisfaction in compensating those performing largely unseen, yet vital work, and how this investment leads to positive outcomes for both maintainers and the broader tech community.

One of the main challenges in supporting open source maintainers, according to Lauren, is organizational will. While the infrastructure for paying maintainers and supporting their efforts is in place, securing the necessary budget within companies is still an obstacle—especially as more focus and funding shift toward AI.

Lauren also shares key findings from Tidelift’s annual State of Open Source Maintainer report, which reveals that paid maintainers are 55% more likely to implement critical security and maintenance practices. The report also highlights concerning trends, such as the lack of new maintainers, particularly younger ones, and growing skepticism within the community regarding AI tools.

Lauren emphasizes the importance of thinking critically about the software supply chain and understanding the people behind the code. She encourages developers to use Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs), which are becoming industry standards for tracking open source dependencies, particularly as software security regulations increase. For conference attendees, her advice is to build relationships during the event and continue those conversations online afterward.

Key takeaways

• Paid open source maintainers are 55% more likely to implement critical security and maintenance practices, reinforcing the value of compensating maintainers.
• Organizational will remains a major hurdle in funding open source support, especially as AI continues to capture attention and budgets.
• Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) are essential for understanding and securing the software supply chain, especially in light of increasing government regulations on software security.

Conclusion

Lauren Hanford’s insights underscore the need to invest in open source maintainers through compensation and support. Despite challenges like competition for funding and concerns about AI’s impact, there’s a clear path forward—companies and developers must prioritize the long-term health of the open source ecosystem. By leveraging tools like Software Bills of Materials, developers can help create a more secure, sustainable open source environment.

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