What bothers me about these increasingly frequent myth-debunking exercises: they always assume that every open source programmer is out to deliver production-quality code. But that's the biggest myth that all these analysts fall for. Most OSS programmers code on programs because they solve a problem they have. Or because they simply enjoy working on the topic. Or because existing solutions don't work the way they imagine them. So the reasons are usually quite selfish at first. In the process, the end user and other developers are inevitably ignored initially - and from these projects, larger projects may later develop. In rare cases does a project really start from scratch with the premise of delivering professional software. But it's this playfulness and egoism of OSS programmers that creates diversity. And of course, also chaos. Funnily enough, these same selfish programmers are extremely generous and eager to share, which is why larger projects can only emerge from these projects at all. But usually there's a selfish motive behind that too: the need for recognition. A key driver in OSS projects is the pursuit of fame.
By the way, I see the whole thing as absolutely not negative, quite the opposite. It's precisely what makes the OSS landscape so colorful and interesting. Ignoring projects that don't interest you is definitely easier than complaining that these developers should be working on other projects - after all, there are no obligations in OSS.
The jump to a major project often only happens through a broader user base, from which collaborators gradually recruit themselves. Nevertheless, many projects remain the personal projects of individual people for a long time - even if there's already a developer community. The Linux kernel is still Linus's project, which becomes apparent whenever he rejects maintainers, rips out subsystems, and unilaterally replaces them with other implementations. The question of why he can do that answers itself: it's his project, of course he can.
In many discussions about the advantages and disadvantages, it's repeatedly assumed that OSS projects are even comparable to commercially operated projects. They are - when there's a company with commercial interests behind the OSS project. But with pure OSS projects, factors are at play that can't be compared to anything commercial or semi-commercial. And these projects make up the majority of OSS.
Therefore, investigations of myths in OSS are often themselves falling for myths.