I fnally found the curling/ open source analogy that works!

Curling ice crews are analogous toopen source project maintainers.

@jspaleta As in, they create the conditions for the stone? Surely someone is the pusher! (I don't know what you call the pusher).
@dneary they literally make and maintain the ice surface....which is effectively a commons for all the curlers.
We both love and hate the ice crews..based on the quality of the ice.
@dneary
The ice is too slow... a common refrain heard across the land...not dissimilar to software service users.