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@ac:

You say : 'If every chunk of free software had some sort of “foundation” to supervise it, productivity would plummet.'.

I say/FTFY : If every chunk of free software had some sort of supervision it, quality would improve.

IMO, the bottom line is either PAY ATTENTION TO AND UNDERSTAND YOUR DEPENDENCIES (Shouting is intentional!) and update your code when necessary, or 'snapshot'; things at your release time and include all deps in *your* release as absolutes.*

Understanding dependencies involves both your code, and and how it is used by 3rd/4th/5th/Nth parties..

I get soooo fucked-off with code/systems/applications that suddenly fail due to someone changing one or two lines in a dependency that the author didn't know they had.

Is it just me. or do people no longer know or care what they are doing? Why write a package/system with *your* name on it when it can be crippled by someone else, by design or accident?

Learn what dependencies means in your context, and take the necessary steps...

*The software equivalent of nuking the site from orbit - it;s the only way to be sure :-) Old quote I know, but stop being age-ist, you!