Open Source is Broken, and it's Our Fault

Explore the critical challenges facing the open source ecosystem in this 49-minute conference talk from NDC London. Examine how modern profitable products rely heavily on the unpaid labor of a small group of maintainers, leading to widespread burnout, project abandonment, and security vulnerabilities that affect everyone. Discover the ethical implications of freely taking from open source projects without giving back, and understand how this unsustainable model puts the entire software development community at risk. Learn practical, actionable strategies you can implement immediately to support the open source projects your work depends on, from establishing lightweight regular contribution habits to implementing team practices that benefit both maintainers and contributors. Gain concrete ideas for strengthening your dependencies while building more resilient development practices, and understand why proactive support is essential before your favorite projects reach crisis mode.