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Open source projects fail due to governance issues, burnout, and lack of organizational structure rather than technical problems. Using Express and Lodash as case studies, the piece examines how these critical JavaScript infrastructure projects nearly collapsed despite billions of downloads. The real solution involved establishing proper governance models, technical committees, defined roles, and sustainable processes. Funding helps but cannot replace structural reforms. Recovery requires slow, deliberate transformation focused on shared ownership and boring but necessary organizational work rather than heroic individual efforts.