How dire is the state of security when it comes to open source, particularly the “problem” of maintainers? It’s a tricky situation given all that’s going on. There’s developer burnout, the lack of gratitude (and funding) from end users, and ever-increasing demands for regulation and secure development. It sounds like a kettle that’s starting to boil over, but perhaps it isn’t all doom and gloom — if we can move forward properly.
References:
- Open source maintainers are really feeling the squeeze
- Request for Information on Open-Source Software Security: Areas of Long-Term Focus and Prioritization
- vex-reader
- Open Source Liability is Coming
- The ultimate list of reactions to the Cyber Resilience Act
- The Cyber Resilience Act: What it means for open source
- Attacker Social-Engineered Backdoor Code Into XZ Utils
- The 2024 Tidelift state of the open source maintainer report
- The 2021 Tidelift open source maintainer survey
- The 2023 Tidelift state of the open source maintainer report
- The human toll of log4j maintenance
- Volkan Yazıcı on X
- Annvix Development on hold indefinitely
- In Praise of Maintainers
- Tidelift Upstream 2024: Patch management needs a revolution