Vibe coding may be hazardous to open source

"Traffic to our docs is down about 40 percent from early 2023 despite Tailwind being more popular than ever,"

"The docs are the only way people find out about our commercial products, and without customers we can't afford to maintain the framework."

"Vibe coding raises productivity by lowering the cost of using and building on existing code, but it also weakens the user engagement through which many maintainers earn returns,"

"When OSS is monetized only through direct user engagement, greater adoption of vibe coding lowers entry and sharing, reduces the availability and quality of OSS, and reduces welfare despite higher productivity."

Tailwind Labs oversees development of the open-source Tailwind CSS framework. AI coding tools reduced traffic to Tailwind's documentation by about 40 percent since early 2023 despite rising popularity, which cut exposure for commercial products that rely on documentation-driven discovery and led to layoffs. A pre-print titled Vibe Coding Kills Open Source links AI coding tools to automatic installation of open-source dependencies that bypass maintainers, weakening user engagement and the pathways through which maintainers monetize work. Lowered engagement can reduce availability and quality of open-source software even as productivity increases.

Read at Theregister