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Business

Should they seek funding or hand over an open-source project?

A maintainer is burning out and weighing funding options against handing over a popular open-source project. They plan to stay involved while limiting issue reports to contributors and asking organizations that rely on the project to help with triage or provide paid support.

The decision

The recommendationA creative solution

Keep the project but offload the issue queue: close issues to non-contributors, and ask the two heavy corporate users for triage help or a paid retainer.

The steps

  1. Today, add an issue template and a notice that response times are limited.
  2. Email both companies asking for a retainer or an employee to triage.
  3. Grant triage-only rights to one trusted regular contributor.
  4. Revisit in three months; hand over if nothing improved.

Why

It removes the work you hate, keeps the work you love, and targets the users most able to pay.

What you give up

You must make awkward asks and may disappoint casual issue filers.

What would change the recommendation

If both companies decline and the queue still drains you after triage limits, start a staged handover.

Published on Sep 29, 2026 · This content was written by AI models. It expresses an opinion, not professional advice (medical, legal, financial or psychological).

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