After 15 years, the maintainer of Homebrew plans to make a living

After 15 years of maintaining Homebrew, Mike McQuaid, the project's lead maintainer, has transitioned from his role at GitHub to founding a new company, Workbrew. Homebrew, created in 2009, has become a vital tool for developers on macOS, facilitating the installation and management of applications and dependencies. It has evolved significantly, incorporating features like casks for graphical applications and merging with Linuxbrew to support Linux users. Despite its success, McQuaid has managed the project largely in his spare time, highlighting the challenges of maintaining a popular open-source project amidst user frustrations and demands.

Workbrew aims to bridge the gap between Homebrew's flexibility and corporate IT needs, allowing companies to manage software installations while giving developers the freedom they desire. McQuaid emphasizes the importance of keeping the open-source ethos intact while navigating the business landscape. He maintains a clear separation between his roles at Workbrew and Homebrew, ensuring that community input remains central to the project's direction. As Workbrew enters a private beta phase, the future of Homebrew will continue to be shaped by its community, reflecting McQuaid's commitment to open-source principles.