Despite winning a $10,000 Microsoft FOSS grant in 2022, the ubiquitous cURL library—supporting over 110 operating systems and countless protocols—remains underfunded relative to its presence in billions of devices, highlighting the broader economic challenges faced by essential open‑source projects.
The article recounts how cURL received a $10,000 monthly grant from the Microsoft FOSS Foundation, outlines its extensive protocol support and ubiquitous deployment across billions of devices, examines its modest donation income versus massive usage, and explores sustainable models for open‑source projects.
The article examines the high‑profile Log4j2 vulnerability, exposes the unpaid volunteer model behind many open‑source projects, and argues that companies must pay for the software they rely on to create a sustainable ecosystem for maintainers.
The Python Software Foundation secured $407,000 from Mozilla and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to fund pip’s 2020 development, outlining a three‑phase plan that includes core improvements, resolver work, and sustainability efforts to strengthen the Python packaging ecosystem.
