16 Mar 2026

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Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #544 - World Cancer Day

Today we are talking about World Cancer Day, how they use Drupal, and why Drupal was the right choice with our guests Charles Andrew Revkin & Diego Costa. We'll also cover PDFa11y as our module of the week.

For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/544

Topics

Resources

Guests

Diego Costa - 1xinternet.com diegofcosta Charles Andrew Revkin - worldcancerday.org revkin

Hosts

Nic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Steve Wirt - civicactions.com Swirt

MOTW Correspondent

Martin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu

16 Mar 2026 6:00pm GMT

The Drop Times: When “Free Beer” Meets Infrastructure Reality

The modern web runs on Open Source. The software itself remains freely available, but the infrastructure that sustains the ecosystem operates under fragile funding models. In a recent blog post, Drupal founder Dries Buytaert draws attention to a structural imbalance familiar across many open-source projects: the registries, repositories, CI systems, and update services developers rely on are widely treated as public goods, yet their costs are rarely shared proportionally by the organisations that depend on them.

In Drupal's case, maintaining the ecosystem's infrastructure costs roughly $3 million each year, covering servers, bandwidth, content delivery networks, software systems, and operational staff. When distributed across the installed base, that amounts to roughly $10 per active Drupal site annually. The Drupal Association currently operates with about $7.50 per site, leaving a modest but persistent gap. The shortfall does not immediately break systems, but it accumulates as technical debt: upgrades are postponed, legacy infrastructure remains in service longer than intended, and improvements move more slowly than the community might expect.

The deeper issue is structural rather than financial. Hundreds of thousands of sites rely on Drupal.org services, yet the cost of operating those systems remains largely disconnected from the organisations that benefit from them. Much of Drupal's infrastructure is sustained through a combination of event revenue, sponsorship, corporate memberships, and generous in-kind contributions from partners such as AWS, the Oregon State University Open Source Lab, and Tag1. These contributions are invaluable, but they also illustrate how much the ecosystem depends on goodwill rather than predictable funding mechanisms.

Dries suggests that the next stage of maturity for open-source ecosystems may involve exploring models that better connect infrastructure usage with long-term sustainability. The software itself remains open and freely accessible, but the systems that support development, distribution, and updates must remain reliable as the ecosystem continues to grow. Raising the question now allows the Drupal community to discuss potential approaches calmly, before infrastructure pressures turn the conversation into an urgent problem.

The following stories highlight notable developments from across the Drupal ecosystem during the past week.

DISCOVER DRUPAL

EVENT

ORGANIZATION NEWS

DRUPAL COMMUNITY

Additional developments from across the Drupal ecosystem were published during the week. Readers may follow The DropTimes on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook for continuing updates. The publication also maintains a presence on Drupal Slack in the #thedroptimes channel.

Thank you.

Alka Elizabeth
Sub-editor
The DropTimes

16 Mar 2026 3:57pm GMT

Dries Buytaert: Never submit code you don't understand

A humanoid figure stands in a rocky, shallow stream, facing a glowing triangular portal suspended amid crackling energy.

Years ago, in the early Drupal days, you would see a mantra everywhere: "Don't hack core".

It showed up in issue queues, conference talks, support channels, stickers, and even on T-shirts. It was short and memorable, and it solved a real problem: too many people were modifying Drupal Core instead of extending it properly.

Over time the mantra worked. The ecosystem matured. Not just the software itself, but also the habits and expectations around it. Today you rarely hear people say "Don't hack core".

With AI changing how code gets written, we may need a new mantra.

In Open Source, all code needs to be understood and reviewed before it can be merged. That responsibility belongs to both contributors and maintainers. AI is changing how code gets written, but it does not change that responsibility. In fact, it may make it easier to forget.

Code you don't understand becomes someone else's problem. In Open Source, that someone is often the maintainer reviewing your patch.

Offloading bad code onto maintainers slows down reviews for everyone. Plus, you miss the chance to learn from the code and grow as a developer.

It shouldn't matter what tools you use. But if you submit code, you should be able to explain what it does, why it works, and how it interacts with the rest of the code.

Everyone starts somewhere. Even today's top contributors submitted imperfect patches early on. You are welcome here, with or without AI tools. Perfection isn't required, but understanding your code is. Own your code.

Maybe it's time for some new stickers and T-shirts.

Never submit code you don't understand.

Thanks to Natalie Cainaru, Jeremy Andrews and Gábor Hojtsy for reviewing my draft.

16 Mar 2026 3:37pm GMT