Introduction

Open-source software (OSS) serves as the foundation of modern technological infrastructure, powering everything from operating systems to enterprise applications. Despite its indispensable role, OSS contributors often receive little to no compensation for their work, leading to burnout, lack of maintenance, and increased security vulnerabilities.

A recent Harvard Business School study highlights a critical paradox: while OSS contributes trillions of dollars in economic value, the individual developers behind these innovations remain undervalued and underfunded. According to the study, businesses rely heavily on OSS without adequately compensating developers, leading to unsustainable development cycles and overburdened maintainers. This misalignment of incentives threatens not just the developers but also the stability and future of open-source technology itself.

Harvard Business School study: https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/24-038_51f8444f-502c-4139-8bf2-56eb4b65c58a.pdf#page=31.22

At Tea, we recognize this issue and have developed tea Network, Chai, and Tea Rank—three integrated solutions designed to ensure that OSS developers receive the recognition and compensation they deserve. By leveraging decentralized technology and data-driven ranking, we provide a transparent, fair, and sustainable funding mechanism for the open-source ecosystem.

The Challenge: A Broken Incentive System

The Harvard study identifies two primary challenges within the open-source economy:

1. Trillions in Economic Value, Minimal Compensation

OSS is responsible for driving innovation in major industries, yet the developers creating and maintaining these projects rarely see direct financial benefits. The study found that OSS contributions underpin $8.8 trillion in economic value, yet 90% of open-source projects receive no funding. Large corporations leverage OSS extensively but contribute little to its sustainability, leading to a system where those who create immense value remain unpaid or underpaid.

2. A Few Developers Carry the Burden

A small percentage of OSS developers manage mission-critical software that enterprises and governments depend on daily. The study highlights that just 10% of OSS maintainers oversee 90% of critical dependencies. However, these developers often work without financial security, facing burnout and potential abandonment of key projects. Without proper incentives, critical software dependencies become fragile, posing risks to businesses and end users alike.

The Tea Solution: A Decentralized Incentive Model

Tea addresses these challenges by offering a blockchain-powered, transparent incentive structure that aligns contributions with financial rewards. This solution comprises three core components: tea Network, Chai, and Tea Rank.

tea Network: Reshaping OSS Funding Through Decentralization

tea Network is a decentralized protocol designed to ensure that OSS developers receive direct, on-chain rewards for their contributions. Unlike traditional funding models that rely on corporate donations or grants, tea Network distributes value fairly by assessing a project's real-world impact and distributing incentives accordingly.

Key features of tea Network:

• Transparent Funding Mechanisms – Eliminates opaque funding channels, ensuring rewards go directly to developers.
• Decentralized Reward Distribution – Uses blockchain-based smart contracts to automate incentive allocation.
• Self-Sustaining Ecosystem – Encourages long-term OSS sustainability by aligning funding with software importance and usage.

Chai: A Data-Driven Oracle for OSS Impact Measurement

At the core of Tea’s incentive structure is Chai, an open-source oracle that aggregates data on software dependencies and usage patterns. Chai provides real-time insights into which OSS projects are most critical, enabling fair and data-informed funding decisions.

How Chai strengthens the ecosystem:

• Dependency Tracking – Monitors how frequently OSS components are integrated into major software stacks.
• Security and Stability Insights – Identifies vulnerabilities within widely used OSS components.
• Impact-Based Funding Recommendations – Helps direct financial incentives to developers based on actual usage and importance.

Tea Rank: Quantifying Open Source Value

Tea Rank is an advanced ranking system powered by Chai, designed to accurately measure the impact and influence of OSS projects. By analyzing adoption rates, security risks, and dependency relationships, Tea Rank ensures that the most valuable contributors receive fair compensation.

Tea Rank’s capabilities include:

• Objective Measurement of OSS Influence – Uses a scoring system to rank projects based on real-world utility.
• Equitable Distribution of Rewards – Directs funding towards high-impact developers and projects.
• Transparency & Accountability – Ensures that funding mechanisms remain open, traceable, and fair.

How Tea, Chai, and Tea Rank Work Together

Tea’s ecosystem seamlessly integrates these three components to create a sustainable funding loop for OSS developers:

1. Chai identifies critical OSS packages through real-time dependency tracking.
2. Tea Rank assigns transparent, data-backed scores to each project based on its importance.
3. tea Network allocates funding directly to developers using decentralized, smart contract-driven mechanisms.

This model removes reliance on corporate goodwill and shifts towards a merit-based, automated reward system that ensures developers get paid for the real-world value they create.

Why This Matters for the Future of Open Source

With the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure, OSS will continue to play an even greater role in global innovation. However, without sustainable incentives, many critical projects risk stagnation or abandonment. By redefining how OSS developers are recognized and compensated, Tea is building a future-proof funding mechanism that empowers developers and ensures the longevity of open-source ecosystems.

Key Benefits of Tea’s Model:

• Fair and Transparent Incentives – No more underpaid OSS developers.
• Increased OSS Stability – Prevents burnout by ensuring long-term project sustainability.
• Decentralized and Trustless – No intermediaries controlling funds, just transparent blockchain governance.
• Automated Recognition and Funding – Developers no longer need to seek funding manually; their impact speaks for itself.

Conclusion

The Harvard report makes it clear: the OSS economy is too valuable to ignore, yet its core contributors remain financially overlooked. Tea, through tea Network, Chai, and Tea Rank, introduces a revolutionary incentive model that ensures open-source developers are rewarded fairly, sustainably, and transparently.

The study further highlights that 72% of OSS developers cite financial sustainability as a major concern, reinforcing the need for new funding models. Tea provides a scalable, transparent, and decentralized solution to fix the OSS incentive structure.

As the world continues to build on OSS, it’s time to move beyond reliance on corporate funding and embrace a decentralized, automated, and data-driven reward system—one that secures the future of open-source software for generations to come.

Join the Revolution

Tea is committed to reshaping the OSS economy and ensuring that developers receive the recognition they deserve. Be part of the future—explore how Tea is building a sustainable open-source funding model today.

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