Resources
Open source resources
The tools, platforms, and communities for finding, evaluating, and adopting open source projects. Curated, not exhaustive.
BreakPoint
The adoption network for abandoned open source projects. The 23-day median drop-to-first-PR is the proof the platform works.
/
Adoptoposs
The 2019 directory of projects looking for maintainers. The original platform for the adopt-a-project use case.
https://adoptoposs.org/
pickhardt/maintainers-wanted
A curated GitHub list of open source projects looking for new maintainers. Maintained by Jan Pickhardt since 2018.
https://github.com/pickhardt/maintainers-wanted
unmaintained.tech
The community standard GitHub label for projects that are no longer actively maintained. Used across CPAN, RubyGems, npm, and the broader OSS world.
https://unmaintained.tech/
shields.io looking-for-maintainer badge
The standard README badge for projects looking for a new maintainer. Used by CPAN, RubyGems, PyPI, and npm projects.
https://shields.io/badges/looking-for-maintainer
repostatus.org
The community standard for project status badges. Active, maintained, abandoned, etc. Used to surface the state of a project in the README.
https://repostatus.org/
JetBrains Bus Factor Explorer
A web app for exploring bus factor of GitHub projects. Visualises the knowledge distribution and lets you simulate turnover scenarios.
https://github.com/JetBrains-Research/bus-factor-explorer
CHAOSS project
The Linux Foundation project on Community Health Analytics Open Source Software. Defines the bus factor metric and other community health indicators.
https://chaoss.community/
Tidelift
Paid maintenance for OSS dependencies. Tidelift pays the maintainers of the dependencies your company uses and provides a contractual guarantee.
https://tidelift.com/
OpenHatch
A non-profit that helps new open source contributors find projects to contribute to. The right starting point for first-time contributors.
https://openhatch.org/
Snyk Advisor
A free tool that scores every npm package on maintenance, security, and popularity. The right tool for triaging a large dependency tree.
https://snyk.io/advisor/
libs.rs
An alternative crates.io front-end with reverse-dependency views, freshness scores, and category browsing for Rust crates.
https://lib.rs/
deps.rs
A reverse-dependency checker for Rust crates. Shows how up-to-date a crate's dependencies are, with links to update PRs.
https://deps.rs/
npm deprecate
The npm command for deprecating a package. The message shows up on every npm install of the package.
https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v10/commands/npm-deprecate
PEP 541
The PyPI process for transferring a package to a new maintainer when the original is unreachable. The conjunctive criteria: unreachable owner, no release in 12 months, no owner activity.
https://peps.python.org/pep-0541/
OSSF (OpenSSF)
The Open Source Security Foundation. Cross-industry collaboration on open source security. SLSA, sigstore, and the security best practices working group.
https://openssf.org/
GitHub Successor Setting
GitHub's account-level feature for naming a person to inherit your repos after death or incapacitation. Verified by death certificate (7-day wait) or obituary (21-day wait).
https://docs.github.com/en/account-and-profile/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-account-settings-and-account-security/manage-account-settings
Maintainer Month
An annual event (every May) celebrating the people who keep open source running. The maintainer community gathers to share resources and stories.
https://maintainermonth.github.com/
SustainOSS
A community-driven conversation about open source sustainability, funding, and the maintainer crisis. The longest-running discussion of the topic.
https://sustainoss.org/