Who Should Pay for Source Code Availability?

If it’s something you truly care about, you should host a mirror of it yourself. Whether anyone else uses your mirror is irrelevant, the mirror is first and foremost for you.

This does mean you’ll need to run your own server somewhere for the purposes of that mirror, but Gitea, Forgejo, or heck, even a cronjob that runs git is easy to setup. You don’t need your own mirror to be internet accessible, but you do need your own mirror.

If you truly care about it, mirror it, and be in control of your own destiny.

If you centralize all monetary costs, you require the central authority to become extractive.

If you you distribute costs, you can create true sustainability.