@Christian Foellmann wonders:@WPTavernCrew What do you think about the big portion of abandoned plugins in the WP.org repo? A topic worth writing about? No way to transfer ownership if dev is not reachable at all.

Dusty plugins in the repository are clearly-identified and well-marked. They aren't being accidentally or deceptively installed.

When we spot an interesting relic plugin, and decide to 'try it anyway', we run the chance of really liking it, and becoming committed to it. If it needs work, and we can't con someone else into fixing it for us, we might be motivated to learn & do the work ourselves.

Abandoned plugins are often some amateur's brief fling. As such, they are by definition beginner & amateur-grade code. When people become expert coders, one of their first projects is to program the castle to pull the drawbridge up behind them, fill the mote, and populate it with crocs. Having the repository amply stocked with dork-ware, serves as a partial antidote for endemic expertitus.

Both of these dynamics are beneficial for WordPress.