If you have a good name for yourself and are respected within the community, it is almost like a guarantee that you wont just make a quick (although well formed) change and then run and not stick around to maintain it.
I think you get this a lot in the ports communities (FreeBSD, OpenBSD). They don't just want a port of some software; they want to know that you will stick around and take up the role of maintainer for the foreseeable future.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
