Open source software proves that collective contribution creates collective value. However, as a contributor to Microcks, I have observed a concerning pattern that threatens the sustainability of the project and countless others in the open source ecosystem.

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The Reality Behind the Code

For years, the Microcks team of contributors and maintainers has dedicated countless hours to creating, enhancing, and maintaining Microcks. They have handled complex bugs, responded to support requests, and continuously improved the platform to satisfy the expanding demands of API mocking and testing.

This work has been done without financial compensation, driven purely by passion for creating valuable tools for the developer community.

The numbers tell a story:

• Thousands of downloads
• Hundreds of GitHub stars
• A growing user base that spans startups to enterprise organizations

Microcks has become integral to many development workflows, saving teams countless hours and enabling better API development practices.

The Silent Users

Yet, despite this adoption, we’ve noticed something troubling: many users remain silent beneficiaries.

They download, deploy, and benefit from Microcks, but the response is often silent when we reach out for feedback, feature requests, or documentation help.

This creates a paradox: while usage metrics climb, lack of engagement makes it difficult to prioritize development, understand real-world pain points, or build the collaborative ecosystem that makes open source sustainable.

We find ourselves making decisions in a vacuum, unsure if we’re solving the right problems.

This isn’t about demanding gratitude. We know not everyone can contribute code, but there’s a vast middle ground between passive consumption and active development.

The Cost of Silence

This one-sided relationship creates challenges:

• Sustainability concerns – When maintainers burn out or move on to other projects, there’s often no one ready to step up. The knowledge and passion that built the project can disappear overnight.
• Innovation stagnation – Without diverse input from real users, we’re essentially developing in an echo chamber. We miss crucial use cases, overlook pain points, and may focus on features that sound good in theory but don’t address real-world needs.
• Community fragmentation – A healthy open source project builds a community, not just a user base. Without engaged users, we risk losing the collaborative spirit that makes open source powerful.
• Recognition deficit – While we don’t seek fame, visibility helps attract new contributors, secures funding opportunities, and validates the time we invest in the project.

Simple Ways to Give Back

Contributing to Microcks (and any open source project) doesn’t require being a coding wizard. Here are meaningful ways to support the community:

• Spread the word: Share your success stories, write blog posts about how Microcks solved your problems, or mention it in relevant discussions. Word-of-mouth is incredibly powerful.

• Engage authentically: Star the repository, participate in discussions, attend community calls, or join our Slack/Discord. Your presence and voice matter.

• Documentation contributions: Did you find something confusing? Noticed a gap in our docs? Even minor improvements to documentation help countless future users.

• Report issues thoughtfully: When you encounter bugs, report them with details. Good bug reports are contributions that help everyone.

• Answer questions: Share your knowledge if you see someone struggling with something you’ve figured out. Peer support strengthens the entire community.

• Join the adopter community: If Microcks helps your organization, join the public adopter list: https://github.com/microcks/.github/blob/main/ADOPTERS.md.

A Sustainable Future

We’re not asking for charity,we’re asking for partnership.

Open source works best when it’s truly collaborative, when users become stakeholders in the project’s success. The most successful open source projects aren’t just tools; they’re communities of people who care about solving problems together.

Microcks has reached a critical juncture. We can continue growing as a community-driven project or remain a tool maintained by a few for the benefit of many. The choice isn’t ours alone, it belongs to everyone who has ever benefited from our work.

Your Turn – Join Me in Building These Resources

If Microcks has helped you ship better software, meet deadlines, or solve API testing challenges, I have specific ways you can help make it even better for everyone. As part of my LFX mentorship project, I’m working on critical resources our community desperately needs, but I can’t complete them without your real-world insights.

Here’s how you can contribute right now:

• Share Your Deployment Details – Help build the Compatibility Matrix (#85) by sharing which versions of Kubernetes, MongoDB, and Keycloak work with your Microcks setup. Your configuration details help others avoid compatibility headaches.
• Contribute Performance Data – Join our Sizing Guide (#86) by running our k6 benchmarks and sharing your results. Whether you’re running Microcks on a laptop or enterprise Kubernetes, your performance data helps teams right-size their deployments.
• Share Security Solutions – If you’ve figured out how to secure Microcks mock endpoints with API gateways, please contribute to our Security Documentation (#51). Your Kong/ AWS API Gateway/ Traefik or NGINX configurations could save someone days of troubleshooting.

The next time you see these issues or similar calls for help, don’t scroll past. Your experience is precisely what we need to build resources that genuinely serve the community.

These are not just documentation requests, they’re opportunities to save others from repeating solved challenges.

👉 Explore our community repository. The community is waiting for your insights to help ensure these initiatives succeed.

✨ Quote from the Maintainer

“As a maintainer of the Microcks project and mentor to Krishi during the 3-month LFX mentorship program, I was both glad and impressed to see how clearly she articulated one of the core challenges many open source projects face: the gap between being a good open source citizen and users who remain passive or silent.
The project she worked on was a perfect example of something maintainers often can’t take on themselves, as our focus must remain on the project’s core objectives. After all, Microcks is an open source initiative, not a commercial product. This means adopters and the community must take responsibility for their deployment environments and requirements.
That’s exactly why Krishi initiated the community repository and installation documentation, which we hope the community will continue to maintain and grow. Sharing is caring.”
Yacine Kheddache, Microcks Maintainer

The future of Microcks depends not just on code commits, but on community commits.

💡 Are you ready to make yours?