A few months ago, MassTransit announced that they are going commercial. That was a big shock for many of us in the .NET ecosystem.
Some of us thought someone would eventually fork the project and keep it open, but that hasn’t really happened yet, probably because it’s not a small project. Understanding it deeply and maintaining it properly would easily be a full-time job.
My idea: an open-source fork called OpenTransit I’m thinking seriously about maintaining a fully open-source fork of MassTransit, called OpenTransit, that stays community-driven and free forever.
My initial plan:
I’ll take over as the primary maintainer at the beginning.
Over time, we’ll bring in 3/4 core maintainers so the project never depends on a single person.
The goal is long-term stability, improved documentation, and transparent governance.
A bit about me I’m not anyone special in the .NET world, just a developer with about 4.5 years of experience who loves working deep in the infrastructure layer. I enjoy understanding what happens inside the .NET runtime and working on complex system design problems. Occasionally, I write NET-related blogs on Medium if I find some concepts that aren't well organized on the internet.
So a project like MassTransit is honestly a dream to work on.
But here are the two big questions that have been keeping me up tonight:
This would basically be a full-time job. How would I manage that?
Does the community even want this? Would you actually use and support a well-maintained open-source fork?
I can’t answer that second question alone; that’s why I’m here, asking the community.
If you’re a current or past MassTransit user, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts. Would a stable, open-source alternative matter to you? Would you consider using it or even contributing if it existed?
Please comment below or DM me. I’d really appreciate it.
My plan, if there’s interest MassTransit v8 will remain open-source and supported until December 2026, which gives me some breathing room. In that time, I plan to:
Deeply understand the code and learn the transports I’m less familiar with.
Restructure and improve the documentation — I think it could be more organized and easier to approach.
Add API references for all types (classes, interfaces, etc.) that are currently missing.
If there’s genuine community interest, I’m prepared to commit fully — even if it means leaving my current job. I’ve saved enough to live for 2–3 years, and I’d rather spend that time building something meaningful and open than doing something I’m not excited about.
I know it might sound a bit crazy, but I’m okay with that. I’d rather take a shot at something that matters.
Even if you’re not a MassTransit user, I’d still love to hear your opinion. Do you think the .NET ecosystem needs a strong, community-backed service bus library again?
Thanks for reading. (And for tolerating a slightly sleep-deprived 4 AM post.)
You imply you'll burn through your savings for a couple years, then worry about financial support.
This is a huge red flag for me, and would strongly lead me away from using this project. Because it tells me this is a short-term effort which will die in a couple years.
MassTransit is going commercial because the offering has value, which (some) people are prepared to pay for. The people who aren't prepared to pay them are also not prepared to pay you.
Now, if you want to spend your savings and 2 years of your life making OpenTransit 8.1 then go for it. But make no mistake, in 2 years you'll be back on the market looking for a job.
Coding is the easy part. Getting funded is the hard part. Do the hard part first, and you'll do the easy part for decades.
By all means build a community, but figure out how that community will fund your time. If the can't, or won't, then you're really not offering anything of value.
Good luck.
However, I will also try to get sponsorship. If I get some, then good, even if I don't, it's okay since I am not solely dependent on it.
What do you think about this approach?
I am genuinely how did you ascertain working on this will have enough demand for folks to hire you to do consultancy in this space? I have in .NET space and have never heard of this tool before.
Plus, .NET is not that popular either compared to proliferation of python/java/node.js frameworks
Look at HN job threads, .NET demand is very limited.
>Look at HN job threads, .NET demand is very limited.
I think it just isn't popular for startups or people who read sites like this. Claude says there are 6-8 million .NET developers
I think consultancy and freelancing is also a full time job. And a difficult job at that. When you're not on a gig you need to spend your time lining up the next gig.
If you think this approach is viable then ideally drop your existing job to half-day (if you can) and spend your other half day doing consulting and freelancing. Once that is covering your existing (100%) salary then you can quit your half-day day job, and spend your newly free time on open source projects.
I get that you'd prefer to just dive into the fun stuff. But that's a poor way to do it, and typically leads to poor outcomes.
If there's a market for consulting and freelancing then by all means go down that road to see if it's there, and if it is sufficient.
If you build out financial security first, then you will be free to indulge whatever passion you like. If you passion first then all that work will be lost when you inevitably have to drop it (because you'll be working for money again.)
https://masstransit.io/