The Job of Go Maintainer - Professional Open-Source Maintenance

Explore the role of a professional open-source maintainer in this 54-minute conference talk from GoLab. Discover how Filippo Valsorda transitioned from leading the Go Security team at Google to becoming an independent maintainer of Go's cryptography standard library and other projects. Learn about the innovative business model involving retainer and sponsorship agreements with companies like Protocol Labs, Smallstep, and Tailscale. Gain insights into the day-to-day responsibilities of a Go maintainer, the challenges of making open-source maintenance a sustainable career path, and the potential for this model to prevent maintainer burnout. Understand the current barriers to entry for professional maintainership and the steps needed to make it more accessible to the wider open-source community. Delve into Valsorda's progress with this new approach and its implications for the future of open-source development and maintenance.