Welcome to the Eternal September of open source. Here's what we plan to do
GitHub acknowledges the "Eternal September" effect in open source, where a constant influx of new users creates ongoing challenges for maintainers. To help, GitHub plans to introduce new tools and resources aimed at reducing maintainer burnout, improving project onboarding, and making community management more sustainable.
Background
"Eternal September" is an old internet term — in 1993, AOL flooded Usenet with new users who never learned the norms, so that month's chaos never ended. GitHub is applying that name to open source's current reality: generative AI (especially ChatGPT, launched late 2022) has brought a massive, permanent wave of low-quality issues, drive-by feature requests, AI-generated bug reports, and entitled demands. Maintainers are overwhelmed by volume and tone. GitHub's post announces three responses: a stricter issue-template system, a "shadow ban" feature that auto-hides first-time contributors' comments for review, and a community-health dashboard. The company walks a line between protecting volunteers and keeping the platform open. The post is addressed to open-source maintainers, who are often unpaid and burning out.