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Tailwind Creator on the Challenges of Open Source

#020 · August 3, 2025

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Tailwind Creator on the Challenges of Open Source
Thank You! https://blacksmith.sh our sponsor today! Speed up your GitHub Actions AND pay less! https://tailwindcss.com/sponsor Love Tailwind? Consider Sponsoring! If you want delicious coffee sold only over SSH: ssh terminal.shop đŸŽ™ïž Hosts: - TJ @teej_dv - Trash Dev @trash_dev - Prime @ThePrimeagen 🎯 Guest: Adam Wathan - Creator of Tailwind CSS https://adamwathan.me https://x.com/adamwathan https://tailwindcss.com/ 📌 Chapters: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:04 - "Open Source is Pain" - Tailwind Creator 00:04:37 - Sponsor: Blacksmith - Faster GitHub Actions #ad 00:05:15 - The Reality of Open Source at Scale 00:10:55 - Cost of Full-Time Open Source 00:13:06 - Rust Rewrite & Performance Gains 00:16:29 - Sponsorship vs Business Models 00:22:48 - The Emotional Side of Open Source 00:30:15 - The Courage to Fire Users 00:37:46 - How Tailwind Spends Money 00:44:04 - How to Champion Open Source while making money 00:54:06 - Licenses in Open Source 00:58:00 - Tailwind is a hard business 01:00:14 - VC vs Lifestyle Open Source Projects 01:07:50 - Replication in Open Source 01:11:00 - Tailwind Fortnite Skins 01:16:00 - We agree on the words finally 01:18:00 - Thanks & Wrap Up Key topics include: - The reality of maintaining open source at massive scale - Why sponsorship models often fail and what works instead - The psychological challenges of community management - How to build sustainable businesses around open source - The future of developer tooling and AI's impact 🐬 Bonus Section 🐬 ┆　┆　┆　┆　┆ ┆　┆ àŁȘ ˖☆ àŁȘ⭑┆ ʁ˖ .☆ . ʁ ˖ ☆âŠč àŁȘ ┆ ˖ àŁȘ　âŠč àŁȘ ★ ⋆.˚ âŠč àŁȘ　. àŁȘ ˖⋆˚★ ₊ âŠč　 àŁȘ˖ àŁȘ ₊ àŁȘ ˖　　. 　 ˚　. . ʁ　âŠč àŁȘ ˖　　　 àŁȘ ˖　　　　. 　 ˚　.　　　* 　　. . ʁ　　　 ʁ　　　. 　 ˚　　　* 　　. . 　　. 　 ˚　.　　* 　　.　*　　* 　　.　* 　　.　　　* 　　. Did you actually read this description?　　　. 　 ˚　.　　 *　　. Was it useful?　　* 　. 　 ˚　.　˚　　.　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　. Did it have everything you were looking for?　　　. 　 　.　　.　* 　　. If you wanted to see something different, what would that be?　. 　 　.　.　* Do you think Tailwind would have been as popular if it was named Headwind?　. 　 ˚　. How much Tailwind do you think Prime really knows?　　. 　 ˚　.　　　* 　　. Who do you want to see on The Standup next?　　　. 　 ˚　　　* 　　.　* 　　. . 　 ˚　.　　 *　　. 　 ˚　.　˚　　. 　 　.　　. 　 　.　.　*　　. 　 ˚　.　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　. 　 ˚　　　* 　　.　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.　　* 　　.
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