One of the biggest misconceptions about open source is that  it is “free”.  While it is “free to use”, the people maintaining it are volunteers. They generously share their work, but they aren’t bound to provide ongoing service or guaranteed support. It is not “free to maintain”.

Anyone who has ever kept an aging project alive knows the truth: maintenance takes real time, real effort, and real expertise. And because maintainers are often volunteers, it’s common for important but less-used modules to fall behind, even when the community depends on them.

The DNN ecosystem is a perfect illustration of this. It’s remarkable that DNN is still relevant today, given that it launched back when the first Lord of the Rings film was still in theaters (you probably printed MapQuest directions to get there), Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” was on everyone’s car stereo, and having a color screen and a camera on your BlackBerry was worthy of a post on MySpace! I think it’s a testament to how solid DNN is as a platform and to how the ecosystem has continued to mature with both stability and purpose.

Over the years, many modules were built and released by contributors who later moved on, specialized their tooling, or simply stopped needing those modules in their own work. These modules still matter. Some of them are the final blockers preventing people from upgrading their sites to modern versions of DNN. But updating them can be a huge undertaking, sometimes requiring a total modernization effort after years of inactivity.

And here’s the challenge:

Most people who could update these modules professionally don’t actually use them. Maintaining something you don’t use is tough. You’re unfamiliar with edge cases, you don’t benefit from the improvements, and the work can be significant, especially when the last update was a decade ago.
Despite this, there is a recurring expectation in open source that everything should be free. I understand the sentiment, but the reality is: maintainers have bills to pay, families to support, and schedules that are already full. If time were unlimited and life were simpler, I might happily modernize every old DNN module out of sheer passion. But passion does not keep the lights on. Sponsorships do.
And recently, I was reminded just how well that model can work.

A Real Example: Updating the Wiki Module After 10 Years
A couple of users reached out to ask if the old DNN Wiki module could be updated to support DNN 10. It’s a module I don’t personally use, and its last release was in 2015, a full decade ago. Updating it meant reacquainting myself with a very old codebase, last looked at when we are all debating if the dress was blue and black or white and gold, the Flash decline was just starting, and Internet Explorer still had 55% market share on desktop.

Under normal circumstances, taking on that kind of work unpaid would be unreasonable.
But then one of the users did something rare and incredibly impactful:
They sent an anonymous sponsorship, and with no pressure tactic strings attached, just a hope that something may be possible and help the cause.

I’m not going to disclose the amount, but it was sizeable and meaningful. It didn’t match my full client rate for the time required (it took most of two days), but it covered more than half. That was enough to tip the balance from “I wish I could help” to “I can actually afford to do this.”

And because of that sponsorship:

• The Wiki module now works on DNN v10
• Other site owners can upgrade their platforms
• A once-stagnant module has life again
• The community benefits from work that otherwise would not have happened
• It also pushed me to write a blog post about the effort, hopefully inspiring other sponsors to help open-source efforts.

This is exactly what sustainable open source looks like.

DNN Itself Is Maintained by Volunteers - Not a Corporation

I sometimes feel there is a misconception going around worth addressing:
Some people still assume that because DNN once had a commercial backing, the DNN Platform today must have a company maintaining it behind the scenes somehow.
That era is long gone.
•    DNN Software Corporation is no longer what it once was.
•    Evoq still exists as a product, but no company maintains the open-source DNN Platform.
•    The open-source Platform is kept alive entirely by volunteers: people contributing nights, weekends, and personal time.
•    None of these maintainers are paid unless the community chooses to sponsor them.

And that work is significant: security updates, modernization, .NET changes, PR reviews, tooling improvements, help with upgrades; the list goes on. All of this is done by a small handful of very dedicated contributors.
If we want the DNN ecosystem to remain healthy, upgradeable, secure, and modern, then supporting the people doing the work is very welcome.

Want to Help? Sponsor the People Keeping DNN Alive

If this resonates with you, here’s something simple and powerful you can do:
👉 Visit the DNN Platform repository on GitHub
👉 Check the contributors list (you may recognize some names that helped you at some point)
👉 See which maintainers have GitHub Sponsors enabled (hint: There is a "Sponsor this project" section on the bottom of the right pane that lists recent contributors that have github sponsors feature enabled)
👉 Sponsor someone, even a few dollars a month matters if enough people do it

Your sponsorship helps the entire ecosystem:
•    Faster upgrades
•    Modernized modules
•    Fewer blockers
•    More security
•    More help when you have issues
Open source survives when people invest in the people who maintain it.

A Personal Note and a Thank You

I want to end on a personal note.
To the anonymous sponsor who stepped up and made the Wiki module update possible:
Thank you. Truly!

Your support directly enabled about two days of focused work that otherwise would not have happened. It helped not just you, but everyone still relying on that module and everyone who needed it to modernize their DNN installation.

And to all of my sponsors, past and present, thank you as well.
Every contribution, no matter the size, helps me carve out the time needed to maintain and improve the pieces of the DNN ecosystem that so many people depend on.

Open source works best when the community lifts together.
Your support makes that possible, and I’m deeply grateful.