The XKCD Dependency meme originates from comic #2347 by Randall Munroe, published in 2020. The illustration depicts a massive, complex structure representing modern digital infrastructure, which is precariously supported by a single, tiny pillar. This pillar represents a project some random person in Nebraska has been thanklessly maintaining since 2003. The meme perfectly captures the fragile nature of open-source software and the hidden dependencies that power the global internet. It gained massive popularity in the tech community, frequently cited during major software outages or security vulnerabilities like Log4j to illustrate how the entire world relies on invisible, underfunded labor.