The issue I see is figuring out what deserves funding. Is GNU/Linux the thing that we're trying to serve? Who gets to decide what's critical to the operating system? Initially you'll see project jockeying for position, which is going to be a mess. Then you'll see consolidation around projects that can get the funding. Do people contribute to those projects more in hopes of getting paid, at the expense of others?
Honestly just having a decent list of contributors to pick from and knowing who they are personally before handing over maintainership might help.
And of course, there's always the magic word when someone wants you to provide extraordinary support for software that you made for free: "No."
Governments in Europe are funding OSS that they use. For example a bunch of government agencies use Matrix instead of Slack or Teams so they are funding it to remain sustainable.
The issue I see is figuring out what deserves funding. Is GNU/Linux the thing that we're trying to serve? Who gets to decide what's critical to the operating system? Initially you'll see project jockeying for position, which is going to be a mess. Then you'll see consolidation around projects that can get the funding. Do people contribute to those projects more in hopes of getting paid, at the expense of others?
Honestly just having a decent list of contributors to pick from and knowing who they are personally before handing over maintainership might help.
And of course, there's always the magic word when someone wants you to provide extraordinary support for software that you made for free: "No."