From Linux Stans · · 1m 50s
11 Open Source Projects Run by One Person
11 core open source projects depend on one or two people maintaining them.
In brief
11 core open source projects depend on one or two people maintaining them. 11 of 23 open source projects have one or two regular contributors who handle all updates. Originally reported by Linux Stans.
Time Zone Database
Paul Eggert maintains the time zone database used by 4 billion devices.
“August twenty-third”
xz Compression Tool
Lasse Collin writes 97 percent of xz changes in 2025 with no new funding.
“97 percent”
sudo Command
Todd Miller maintains sudo with 5,408 changes from 2008 to 2018.
“5,408”
bash Shell
Chet Ramey maintains bash since 1990 with 25 years of unreported bugs.
“25 years”
OpenSSL Security
Heartbleed bug led to $5.4 million funding for OpenSSL in 2014.
“$5.4 million”
One-Person Projects
11 of 23 projects have one or two regular contributors making ten or more changes.
“11 of 23”
Funding Sources
Germany’s Sovereign Tech Agency funds 90 open source projects since 2022.
“90”
Open Source Challenges
8 projects show no public funding despite being used by billions of devices.
“8 projects”
Security Risks
xz backdoor affected 2024 ssh logins with no public funding after incident.
“2024”
Contributor Impact
One maintainer’s absence causes security risks for 2024 ssh logins.
“2024”
Open Source Funding
OpenSSL received $2,000 in donations before Heartbleed incident.
“$2,000”
One-Person Projects
8 projects have no public grants despite being used by billions of devices.
“8 projects”
Security Incident
Heartbleed bug exposed 17 percent of secure servers in 2014.
“17 percent”
Open Source Maintenance
One maintainer’s absence causes security risks for 2024 ssh logins.
“2024”
Open Source Funding
OpenSSL received $2,000 in donations before Heartbleed incident.
“$2,000”
Open Source Projects
11 of 23 projects have one or two regular contributors making ten or more changes.
“11 of 23”
At a glance
11 of 23 open source projects have one or two regular contributors who handle all updates.
