Since this site is very popular, why isn't there that flood?

I posted a link to my "Myths Open Source Developers Tell Ourselves" article earlier in this discussion.My thesis is that's not how open source works. There are over 75 members of pmdev. How many patches do you expect in a a week?

How many people use Perl 5? Do you know how many people submit patches to that in a week? How about to Parrot? How about to Pugs?

The answer is "Fewer than you might believe." Sure, having the source open makes this possible and easier, but I don't know that I necessarily trust a patch from someone unwilling to stick around long enough to earn a decent reputation and then ask for access to the code. Maybe that policy has prevented a couple of really great potential contributors from doing good things -- I don't know. I do think it's positive in enforcing at least a minimum level of responsibility and accountability, though, and I don't believe there has ever been a huge desire for people to do more work themselves.