Building An Open Source Maintenance Company

We all use open source software on a daily basis. Even though the software is free to consume doesn't mean it's free to produce. Over the years, there have been many attempts to support open source development financially, from companies that sell support to foundations and many things in between. On this week's episode, Angelica and Matt are joined by Filippo Valsorda and Daniel McCarney to discuss Geomys, an open source maintenance company. The goal of Geomys is to provide open source maintainers with stable income to support themselves financially while doing the very important work of keeping open source projects well maintained. The group discusses the why and how of Geomys, what the day to day is like, and open source maintenance as a whole.

For our supporters, this episode contains extra chapters of discussion. Get access by signing up at https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe.

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Notes:

• Geomys

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (01:11)
• Chapter 1: Geomys, An Open Source Maintainership Company (04:27)
• Chapter 2: Day To Day At Geomys [Supporter Only] (12:29)
• Chapter 3: How Are Things Going? (12:29)
• Chapter 4: The Geomys Team [Supporter Only] (19:34)
• Chapter 5: Expansion Possibilities (19:34)
• Chapter 6: Interacting With The Community (30:42)
• Chapter 7: Building A Geomys Of Your Own [Supporter Only] (40:09)
• Chapter 8: Preventing Burnout (40:09)
• Chapter 9: Prioritizing Work (52:18)
• Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions (58:06)

Hosts

• Matthew Sanabria - Host
• Angelica Hill - Producer
• Kris Brandow - Producer
• Filippo Valsorda - Guest
• Daniel McCarney - Guest

Socials:

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (01:11) - Prologue
• (04:27) - Chapter 1: Geomys, An Open Source Maintainership Company
• (12:29) - Chapter 2: Day To Day At Geomys [Supporter Only]
• (12:29) - Chapter 3: How Are Things Going?
• (19:34) - Chapter 4: The Geomys Team [Supporter Only]
• (19:34) - Chapter 5: Expansion Possibilities
• (30:42) - Chapter 6: Interacting With The Community
• (40:09) - Chapter 7: Building A Geomys Of Your Own [Supporter Only]
• (40:09) - Chapter 8: Preventing Burnout
• (52:18) - Chapter 9: Prioritizing Work
• (58:06) - Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions