Open source has always been about community. It’s about maintainers who review pull requests late at night. Volunteers who respond to security reports from strangers. And communities that quietly power the world’s software. The reality behind the commits is that maintainers get stretched thin. The effort of responding to pull requests and comments, while also being expected to merge and ship, adds up quickly. Late nights turn into burnout, one-person projects become critical infrastructure overnight without even realizing it, and “thank you” doesn’t pay the bills. Plus, AI is an accelerating force that’s changing how the open source community secures the ecosystem. The requirements of always-on security take more time and energy in addition to not always having the knowledge and expertise. At GitHub, we believe supporting open source means more than hosting code.…