Open source to closed doors: RubyGems control fight erupts

Ruby Central is said to have quietly snatched control of several flagship Ruby open source projects from their long-time maintainers without their consent, following pressure from Shopify, one of its biggest backers.

The allegations were detailed by Joel Drapper, a Ruby developer and open source maintainer who previously worked at Shopify. They suggest a coordinated takeover of the RubyGems and Bundler ecosystems, and may deepen fractures in the Ruby community. 

The controversy follows a story earlier this week about Ruby Central's assumption of control over RubyGems infrastructure. What's new in Drapper's exposé is the assertion that Shopify, a major corporate user and sponsor in the Ruby ecosystem, applied financial and governance pressure to force Ruby Central's hand – effectively turning the nonprofit into a proxy for corporate interests.

According to Drapper, Ruby Central had already been financially strained. A major sponsor, Sidekiq, allegedly withdrew a $250,000 ...