> If this is the issue, one of those forks will become the new mainline repo everyone contributes to.
I know that is how it is "supposed to work". However, I've very rarely seen it actually work that way.
The problem is the "first-mover advantage" and it is a hard one to overcome. If you make a "maintained actix-web" fork, most people will still find their way to the dead project. Even worse, many resources and tutorials will point to the old library. A search for "actix" will almost certainly give confusing and frustrating results to the novice.
I know that is how it is "supposed to work". However, I've very rarely seen it actually work that way.
The problem is the "first-mover advantage" and it is a hard one to overcome. If you make a "maintained actix-web" fork, most people will still find their way to the dead project. Even worse, many resources and tutorials will point to the old library. A search for "actix" will almost certainly give confusing and frustrating results to the novice.