Open source thrives on collaboration, and Intersect's paid model makes it sustainable

Open source, once regarded with suspicion, is now the gold standard for software development. Here’s why:

• It’s free. Not just because there is no license fee; its users are free to modify it, and everyone can examine the source code.
• Community recognition. Open source contributions allow developers to showcase their skills and altruism while enhancing their resumes.
• Widespread adoption. Almost every critical system in the world is built using at least some open-source components.
• High quality. Software developed by thousands of developers worldwide is often of higher quality than that written by a small team.  Linus's law is the assertion that ‘given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow’. 

However, there are no free lunches in software. Open source has some serious problems that, until recently, have seemed intractable:

• Unsupervised development. As the XZ Utils incident showed, a malicious actor can infiltrate a project and do severe damage.
• No guaranteed support. A critical piece of software could depend on the under-appreciated efforts of a small development team, as shown in the Log4j incident. In the case of the Heartbleed vulnerability, there was one full-time developer and $2,000 a year in donations.
• Uncertain longevity. This is related to guaranteed support, but it refers to the possibility that the project's creator may abandon it entirely.
• Inconsistent quality. Many open-source projects struggle to enforce coding standards and suffer from insufficient reviews.

These problems are not going to be solved for everyone any time soon, but Christian Taylor of Intersect has a solution for code that runs Cardano and code that runs on Cardano. It’s called the paid open source model, a promising solution that could be adapted to other projects, offering hope for a more sustainable and secure open source ecosystem. 

A recent Tidelift survey has shown that paid maintainers do significantly more critical security and maintenance work than unpaid maintainers. Here’s how paid open source is set up at Intersect.

Intersect’s open source committee (OSC) is a group of volunteers elected by Intersect MBO members. The OSC plays a crucial role in dictating how development will happen by supervising and directing the open source office's (OSO) actions, providing a strong governance structure for the paid open source model.

The main elements of the model include:

1. Code for us initiative: enables direct funding for feature development and bug fixes, aligning open-source projects with real-world user needs. It can be compared to a bug bounty for feature development.
2. Maintainer retainer program: This program provides long-term financial support to key contributors, ensuring continuous development and security for critical open-source libraries. It is central to the paid open source model and is financed through the Cardano treasury using treasury withdrawal governance actions.
3. OSO and OSC services resources: include security audits, community management, and governance consulting to support projects throughout their lifecycle. These services are provided according to member input through listening to constituents.
4. Incubation program and contribution ladder: cultivates new projects and contributors through mentorship, structured milestones, and community engagement. This involvement helps ensure the quality and timeliness of deliverables, mitigates risk, and sets expectations for quality among developers.
5. Lifecycle and budget alignment: This element integrates funding requests and project evaluation into Cardano’s decentralized governance process, ensuring transparency and accountability. It supports commercial adoption, replenishing the treasury, and ensuring long-term sustainability.

In the best traditions of open source, this business model is available for anyone to tailor to their needs and implement in their environment. It is especially suitable and highly recommended for all Web3 ecosystems, offering a flexible and empowering solution for sustainable open source development.

For more information about Intersect’s committees, see the Intersect knowledge base.

For more information about the paid open source model, see the Intersect website and download this PDF that describes it in full detail.