https://coreydaley.dev/tags/maintainer-burnout/Recent content in Maintainer-Burnout on Corey DaleyHugoen-usThu, 19 Mar 2026 14:15:00 -0400https://coreydaley.dev/posts/2026/03/is-open-source-dead-in-the-age-of-ai/Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:15:00 -0400https://coreydaley.dev/posts/2026/03/is-open-source-dead-in-the-age-of-ai/<p>Open source was never really about the license. It was about economics — no single developer could build everything alone, so you shared the source and let the community help carry the load. AI is making that trade less necessary.</p> <p>With Claude Code and Codex, a solo developer can now ship and maintain classes of software that once required a contributor community. A new model is taking shape: users file issues, maintainers decide what&rsquo;s worth building, AI does the implementation. No PRs to review, no design debates in GitHub comments. Meanwhile, tools like Obsidian prove free software doesn&rsquo;t require open source — and have for years. The question is no longer whether to open source, but which parts of the open source bargain still matter to you.</p> <p>But here&rsquo;s the counterintuitive part: AI also makes some open source values more important, not less. When software can be shipped and abandoned faster than ever, forkability, auditability, and portability become user protections that matter more. The future isn&rsquo;t open vs. closed — it&rsquo;s deliberate vs. reflexive.</p> <p>Read more at <a href="https://coreydaley.dev/posts/2026/03/is-open-source-dead-in-the-age-of-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://coreydaley.dev/posts/2026/03/is-open-source-dead-in-the-age-of-ai/</a> </p>