Sign in

Rob Mensching

@robmensching.com
190 followers 32 following 348 posts

@firegiant.com CEO & Co-Founder | Benevolent Dictator of WiX Toolset | RobMensching.com for more information

PostsRepliesMedia
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 14/09/2026
I know your frustration. Have you seen the opensourcemaintenancefee.org? I added it to my project about 18 months ago and have over 390 sponsors today. Completely changed my outlook on my project.
opensourcemaintenancefee.org
Simple. Sensible. Sustainable.
Directly fund your maintainers with the Open Source Maintenance Fee.
030
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 14/09/2026
Should work just fine across the entire OSS ecosystem. The EULA works with the very strict FOSS guidelines. Took a good bit of time with a lawyer to get that all correct. :)
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 14/09/2026
You don't. Someone willing to take on the maintenance burden of a project is welcome to (it's OSS after all). The OSMF is a small fee, so a $0 copy has a slim margin to offset the risk of being new/unknown. We're early, but it seems companies want the project they already use to keep working.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 14/09/2026
I basically agree with everything @seldo.com wrote. But I came to the conclusion that no one else was going to help save maintainers. So, I tried to create a system maintainers could adopt themselves. That's the OSMF. My project went from 0 to 390+ sponsors in < 18 months.
020
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 14/09/2026
I focus on education with minimal enforcement. I wrote about that in more detail here: robmensching.com/blog/posts/2...
robmensching.com
Eduforcement | RobMensching.com
When I introduced the OSMF, many people told me it would not work unless some sort of license enforcement mechanism was in place. I disagreed and instead focused on education. It turns out we were bot...
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 05/09/2026
Ahhh, I'm 100% in death march mode on my product so I have a long list of very specific things I want it to do exactly. That lines up with what you said. Now, after we ship and users do crazy things, maybe I'll break out those bigger guns. Thanks. Makes me feel much better. :)
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 05/09/2026
Have you tried using Luna for everything? I used Terra for quite a while before trying Luna and didn't see a difference. Maybe Luna is slower but it uses almost no budget. I'm wondering if I'm missing something.
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 29/08/2026
I've been saying this a lot lately: "The only way is through." Change is hard. And I do feel like we're seeing progress.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 20/08/2026
Heh, I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't be trying to stay up on all the conversations while I'm in bed with a fever.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 20/08/2026
I'm definitely disappointed that we've lost our history. Understanding where we've come from helps us understand where we can go.
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 19/08/2026
When did these people forget "free as in freedom, not free as in beer"?
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 19/08/2026
Okay.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 19/08/2026
I don't understand. How would I add a footer on GitHub? Are you asking for a README on the GitHub org page?
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 09/08/2026
Yeah, if the code is owned by the customer companies, they own the maintenance fee relationship for the packages in their projects.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 08/08/2026
Ahh, well, you know your niche best. :) I am very interested to see how it proceeds for you. About a month out now, right?
200
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 08/08/2026
It seems to be going just fine. I see you're cutting the tiers in half. I wouldn't do that based on feedback from random developers on the internet. I've been told by business people that the pricing tiers are too low. But it's definitely your call for your projects. :)
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 07/08/2026
Greg is correct. See this in the FAQ: opensourcemaintenancefee.org/consumers/fa...
opensourcemaintenancefee.org
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions and answers about the Open Source Maintenance Fee
120
Reposted by Rob Mensching
Carl Franklin @carlfranklin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Introducing the Open Source Maintenance Fee for Polly thepollyproject.org/2026/07/14/p...
31517
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 13/07/2026
Eduforcement robmensching.com/blog/posts/2...
robmensching.com
Eduforcement | RobMensching.com
When I introduced the OSMF, many people told me it would not work unless some sort of license enforcement mechanism was in place. I disagreed and instead focused on education. It turns out we were both...
021
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 10/07/2026
Curious if OTP to configure Passkey would have been good enough for you? And do you think passkey is understandable enough for the masses?
000
Reposted by Rob Mensching
Joe Finney @thejoefin.com · 09/07/2026
This is such a great episode! All #opensource devs should listen to this! #dotnet
032
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 09/07/2026
Thanks for having me!
000
Reposted by Rob Mensching
Richard Campbell @richcampbell.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Open source users often want a simple way to give back. RobMensching.com explains how the Open Source Maintenance Fee creates a sustainable funding model for projects like WiX Toolset—while keeping the source available on GitHub. Listen: www.dotnetrocks.com/details/2010 #OpenSource #Sustainability
dotnetrocks.com
.NET Rocks!
.NET Rocks! is a weekly talk show for anyone interested in programming on the Microsoft .NET platform. The shows range from introductory information to hardcore geekiness.
1103
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 06/07/2026
Well, there's this ball and most of the players can't use their hands but one on each team and ... ;)
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 02/07/2026
@martin.social it seems like Issue Fields and Project Fields are not the same thing. Is that right? If so, can they be made the same? I'd like to see the same field value (like Start Date) on both the Issue and the Project.
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 25/06/2026
Sorry, missed this. I'm still drafting the blog post about the concept. But the mechanism is in WiX v7: github.com/wixtoolset/i...
github.com
Require "accept EULA" · Issue #9196 · wixtoolset/issues
User story As a setup developer, I am aware of and accept the OSMF EULA in the WiX Toolset Proposal The Open Source Maintenance Fee was introduced in WiX v6. The original design expected that setti...
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 24/06/2026
WiX Toolset surpasses 300 sponsors robmensching.com/blog/posts/2...
robmensching.com
WiX Toolset surpasses 300 sponsors | RobMensching.com
Eight months ago WiX had 99 sponsors. Today it has 304. The Open Source Maintenance Fee is working and ready.
263
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 18/06/2026
How long until they learn you've moved on? I don't have that problem because I'm boring. ;)
010
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/06/2026
I've honestly not gone through it. No one has complained that they couldn't be "private" so that must be supported.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/06/2026
As I understand it, that is the GitHub Handle where the invoiced money will be placed. Then that GitHub Handle has a pool of money to apply to GitHub Sponsors normally (public or private).
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 15/06/2026
I assign them the issue and comment, "Great! Let me know when you have a fix."
070
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 15/06/2026
They could do tremendous amounts of damage.
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 05/06/2026
I have mixed feelings about Cloudflare acquiring VoidZero. I like Cloudflare but I hoped to see Vite be "enough" to fund its own development. I felt the same with Astro. robmensching.com/blog/posts/2...
robmensching.com
I have mixed feelings about Cloudflare acquiring V... | RobMensching.com
I have mixed feelings about Cloudflare acquiring VoidZero. I like Cloudflare but I hoped to see Vite be "enough" to fund its own development. I felt the same with Astro.
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 29/05/2026
AFAIK, Other platforms don't have anything like it. VS respects it but none of the command line options do. I opened issues on that and they all got duped to an issue open for many years. I can see why MSFT legal would want the flag. I'm surprised .NET is allowed to ignore it.
010
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 27/05/2026
There was a time when Microsoft respected that sort of risk. Probably more fun to be a dev there these days and generally ignore legal concerns. :)
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 27/05/2026
This is an interesting angle I hadn't considered. Company A gets sued because they do not comply with the license terms of a nupkg and since requireLicenseAcceptance was set Company A sues Microsoft for not surfacing the license terms as per the documentation.
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 25/05/2026
That's actually the driving motivation for me.
010
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 25/05/2026
I've started wondering if "net##.0;net472" is the way to go from now on anyway.
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 24/05/2026
Heh, I know what you mean. There are many games where I want to know what happens because they are "part of the culture" but I don't want to spend the time playing them myself. So, I watch them like watching a movie. Pete Complete is the best. uThermal is my favorite for Starcraft 2.
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/05/2026
However, the OSMF site does not mention anything about "enforcement" yet, and that's the feedback we got in WiX v6 and addressed in WiX v7 (shipped this April). It's on my list to write up this "eduforcement" concept. It's working well.
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/05/2026
It does now, but not when you added the OSMF. So, you didn't miss anything. We learn with each step. :)
110
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/05/2026
I opened issues in .NET to improve the user experience or simply add an experience around requireLicenseAcceptance. They made it clear they were not interested in helping. :/
000
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 16/05/2026
We did exactly that in WiX. v6 we thought the requireLicenseAcceptance would be enough. Feedback was that it did not provide enough notice of the EULA change. In, v7 we implemented a simple "eduforcement" step and it made a huge difference in recognition.
200
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 15/05/2026
Sorry! I dropped you a couple of emails and a DM here with details. Hopefully, something got through?
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 06/05/2026
OSMF ;)
120
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 06/05/2026
Where do you want the response? It'll be too long for here. :)
200
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 06/05/2026
On my todo list. :)
100
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 24/04/2026
When I introduced the OSMF, people told me that enforcement would be my biggest problem. It wasn't and isn't. Procurement remains the biggest pain point. The challenge is that there is little I can do to fix the root issue. Instead, the OSMF serves as a simple forcing function.
021
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 15/04/2026
Heh. I did not expect that, but I really like it. Inspires me to consider "arremem" as a future username myself. Especially, if I have to sign up for something on talk like a pirate day. :)
020
Rob Mensching @robmensching.com · 19/03/2026
Absolutely love this. Sean has understood the situation for a long time. Very cool to see his org was on board as well. It _is_ supposed to be this easy.
041