My love/hate relationship with maintaining an open-source project with half a billion downloads

M1 Jun 02, 2026, 4:40 PM - 5:30 PM

Dennis Doomen

Hands-on architect in the .NET space with 29 years of experience on an everlasting quest for knowledge to build the right software the right way at the right time

For the past 15 years, I've been the author of Fluent Assertions, an open-source project with over half a billion downloads. Recently, I made the decision to commercialize it—a move I still stand by, but one that didn’t come without controversy. In this talk, I'll share the key lessons I’ve learned from maintaining a widely used library for so long.

 We'll discuss what makes a project successful, how to be a responsible maintainer, and ways to monetize an open-source project. I’ll also dive into the challenges of commercialization, managing expectations, and handling difficult (sometimes entitled) users.

Coding & Tools

Get inspiration & news from us

I agree that Cornerstone will send me news via e-mail