I Forked 4 Abandoned Packages (140M+ Downloads Combined) — Here's Why

I Forked 4 Abandoned Open-Source Packages With 140M+ Combined Downloads

Yesterday I researched abandoned open-source packages. Today I forked 4 of them.

The Packages

Package	Downloads	Abandoned	My Fork
colors (npm)	26.6M/week	2019	colors-pro
request (npm)	15M/week	2020	request-modern
fuzzywuzzy (PyPI)	15.4M/mo	2020	fuzzywuzzy-pro
numeral (npm)	2.3M/week	2017	numeral-ng

Why Fork Abandoned Packages?

1. Existing user base — millions of developers already depend on these
2. BSD/MIT licensed — free to fork commercially
3. Zero competition — original maintainers are gone
4. Built-in distribution — npm/PyPI has the audience

The Plan

Each fork will:

• Fix critical bugs and security issues
• Add modern features
• Include GitHub Sponsors support
• Maintain long-term stability

If 0.01% of users sponsor at $5/month = $50K+/year.

Follow the journey: github.com/kaparovbakay2001-wq

opensource #javascript #python #npm