As -fiso points out below these are people who work as software engineers and are used to intellectual property-rights waivers and NDAs.

Why are the standards of the industry not rigorous enough to volunteer for CF?

And honestly, what's the worst case scenario? Some nefarious party gets a hold of the code and leaks it or exploits the game to the point that it's unplayable?

That would be sad news for a few hundred people around the world. The loss of a favorite work of public art, let's say.

But CF was always a sand sculpture, it could never last forever.

What's disappointing to see is that the resuscitation it needs to last for a few more years is available, but prevented from being implemented for...reasons.

And yes, I do think that lack of an active coder is the biggest issue facing CF right now. It was code changes that drove much of the base away and it was lack of players that took most of the rest, or so it seems.

Give the reins to a trustworthy coder. They're here. Give us Santa Murph and see how many people return.