If I maintain a tool or library used by others, I do see it as a personal duty to maintain it on their behalf. And, clearly the volunteers in the post we're referring to here feels a duty, or they wouldn't be concerned about making the necessary changes to update the tool and libraries provided. Their argument in the post is that their duty to update the tool and its libraries supersedes the perceived entitlement, as they put it, the end users have to an expectation of support. I'm pretty certain what we're discussing here is a feeling of duty, they just have a different opinion on what that duty entails.

There has to be a better way. The reason I think the distinction is important. One is a world where we spend more time as developers struggling to keep our balance as the floor constantly moves. And, therefore less time spent on solving actual problems. While the other potential world is one where we create a self-healing structure that somehow makes life easier for both the maintainers and end users.

I honestly don't know how it would work, but I definitely feel it exists somewhere in our future.