Great technical and philosophical discussion between @vlad@mastodon.vlad.website and @joshbressers@infosec.exchange on the importance (and challenges) of paying OSS maintainers in this episode of Open Source Security! (thanks for the shout-out ☀️) https://opensourcesecurity.io/2026/2026-04-open-source-pledge-vlad/
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Miranda Heath
@mirandah@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Psychology and philosophy PhD researcher @ Edinburgh Uni studying altruism, ideology and collective moral behaviour
Director @ Software Stewardship Lab researching burnout in Open Source communities
Loves spoonbills 🥄
76 Followers
112 Following
12 Posts
Joined September 11, 2025
Website:
Software Stewardship Lab:
Report on Burnout in OSS:
FOSDEM Talk on Burnout in OSS:
Can you help me make a list of people/orgs working on problems that cause burnout in OSS to share at FOSDEM?
I'm looking for work on: OSS advocacy (to govs & companies), OSS value metrics, payment and governance models, dependencies research, community events/spaces, mentor schemes, codes of conduct, AI attestation, AI use policy/guidance, minimising the burden of issue triage/code review, access to coaching/mental health support, and more!
Let's shine a light on people making a difference! ✨
Had fun chatting with @richlitt@mastodon.social for the @sustainoss@hachyderm.io podcast! Listen as we meander from kidney donors to forest floor detritus to death doulas, all while (somehow) keeping it on the topic of open source sustainability and maintainer burnout 🌱 https://podcast.sustainoss.org/285
RE: https://mastodon.social/@mikemcquaid/116567868785422812
'Companies made open source business-critical. For maintainers [work-life] balance is life-critical.' — ooh, love this! OSS creates value for your employer: the Open Source Resistance says, if you have the power, take matters into your own hands and maintain it on the clock! 🏴☠️
Replying to
@pintoch@mamot.fr it's a catch-22 right? It must be hard for OS devs to organise at the grassroots when they are tired and burnt out, but we need grassroots organisation to address the things that are making devs tired and burnout! I'll be talking about burnout in the community track at 16.05.
Also Prithvi Raj is doing a talk at 13.10 that addresses how vendor influence often overshadows genuine grassroots participation in community events which looks super interesting!
I'm curious about the concept of unionisation or similar in Open Source and the challenges associated with it. If you know anyone who has written/thought about this (or if you have thoughts of your own) I'd love to hear/chat about it!
Replying to
@cas@social.treehouse.systems Hello! I'm a psychologist and philosopher who has been studying burnout in OSS, including models of governance and funding that protect against it while preserving OSS values. I can certainly help with this aspect of governance, so let me know if you want to chat. You can DM me or reach out at miranda@mirandaheath.website 😊
Replying to
@cas@social.treehouse.systems You're welcome, and best of luck to you! I admire your commitment to keeping things democratic and co-operative as you scale
Replying to
@shauna Oh exciting, thanks for reaching out! Where's the best place to find your writing/talks?