Beyond GitHub Stars: Redesigning How We Measure Trust in Open Source

GitHub stars, once a reliable signal of project quality, now face widespread manipulation through fake accounts and coordinated campaigns—exposing a fundamental vulnerability in metrics that become monetizable. As developers increasingly depend on reputation signals to evaluate dependencies and tools, corrupted trust systems create cascading risks throughout the entire software ecosystem. The real solution requires moving beyond detection alone to redesign how we measure genuine adoption and trust in open source communities.