Dumb Ways for an Open Source Project to Die | Hacker News

A Hacker News thread says open source projects often fade through familiar patterns like scope creep, burnout, and low contribution rates.

The discussion also points to fragmentation, hostile forks, and organizations treating community projects like free commercial infrastructure.

Examples such as OpenSSH, Jenkins, LibreOffice, and Jekyll illustrate how healthy projects can still drift into decline.

The takeaway: long-term sustainability depends on clear scope, active contributors, and shared maintenance rather than one-way consumption.