Once again, attention is being drawn to the underfunding of open-source projects, especially small software libraries. They’re hard to monetize, yet many companies rely on them. This time the criticism is aimed at Google. The company could do more, but has for many years supported the projects with staff time and funding. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols writes in »FFmpeg to Google: Fund Us or Stop Sending Bugs« for thenewstack.io ...
Haven’t written about open-source software here in a long time. I want to do that more regularly again. Kicking things off is the graphics editor “Graphite”. Graphite is free software for graphics editing. It supports both vector and raster graphics and is also suitable for creating animations. What sets Graphite apart is its non-destructive workflow: changes can be adjusted at any time without altering the original. Editing is done via a node-based system in which graphical elements are controlled and combined through connections. The project aims to be more than a traditional graphics editor, bringing tools for design, painting, animation, and effects together on one platform. ...
On September 23, 2025, several open-source organizations published the open letter »Open Infrastructure is Not Free: A Joint Statement on Sustainable Stewardship«. The message is that public software infrastructure is fundamental to the digital economy, but it is not free. What’s at stake Public package registries like Maven Central, PyPI, crates.io, or Packagist underpin the software supply chains Running them requires people, hosting, and security — costs that have so far often been borne by a few organizations or volunteers Expectations are rising, for example around availability, signing, compliance, and protection against abuse What’s being called for are models where large users contribute more, without restricting openness I can empathize with the pain described and at the same time see the dilemma. Those who invest time or money take on responsibility, but by doing so also put themselves at a competitive disadvantage compared with those who use everything for free. That’s manageable for large companies, but barely feasible for small firms in fierce competition. Still, it remains indisputable that the infrastructure — and the ecosystem — will not be sustainable in the long run without contributions. ...
Some applications run better with a hosting provider than on your own server. Especially when it comes to speed and availability, you’re usually better off in the cloud than behind a home internet connection. If you’re looking for an affordable provider for open-source software, you should check out “PikaPods”. My FreshRSS instance is still hosted on fly.io. If they cut my free tier, I’ll probably move to PikaPods or Uberspace. ...
Bill Doerrfeld writes in »What To Do When Critical Open Source Projects Go End of Life« for thenewstack.io “That doesn’t just mean money — it means showing up, contributing engineering time, asking thoughtful questions and understanding their roadmap,” said Hanlon. “If your business relies on OSS, you’re part of that ecosystem and part of the responsibility.” The text was automatically translated from German into English. The German quotations were also translated in sense. ...