Making the Subgraph framework open source was a pivotal move by The Graph, enabling protocols to access shared indexing logic rather than requiring individual teams to create their own from scratch. With 75,000+ developers applying uniform data transformation patterns, the shared efforts in debugging, optimizing, and enhancing the technology create a powerful compounding effect. While proprietary options result in isolated islands, open standards give rise to interconnected ecosystems. Vendor-based solutions are limited to linear scaling based on available resources, whereas open systems grow with every developer who offers a contribution. Ultimately, this delivers much better engineering economics.