Every time I have to research software to meet a need I start with the Open Source projects with a commercial backing. Then I move on to the volunteer driven projects but it's always such a mess that I don't give them much consideration. It's past time for an open source cleanup.
There are always dozens of projects which have not been updated, are not being maintained, and not even started in the search results. Sourceforge has made a lot of attempts to help by adding statistics on projects but not all projects are on Sourceforge.
I have to admit that most of the projects I worked on are no longer being maintained and I am just as guilty as everyone else. Long ago I should have posted a notice on the project site saying that anyone is free to pick up the project and develop it but users should beware because no one is maintaining it right now.
So let's all do a little housekeeping. Any projects not actively maintained should let potential users know before they invest the time in researching, installing, and deploying.