Abstract: Open source software underpins much of the world’s digital infrastructure, yet its sustainability remains fragile. Communities depend on a small number of contributors who face overload and burnout, while newcomers struggle with technical, social, and cultural barriers to entry. In this talk, I share lessons from over a decade of research on these challenges, tracing a path from onboarding and mentorship to governance and AI-assisted community support. I will reflect on what we have learned about restructuring governance in real-world projects, and on cross-project patterns that reveal how roles, responsibilities, and authority are documented — surfacing phenomena such as role drift and the Maintainer Paradox. I will then turn to AI as a potential ally for sustainability. I will close with open questions about accountability, invisible labor, and the human-AI division.

Chair: Marco Raglianti