The BSDs are known for having a more vertical management structure than other open source projects so I guess the author is contrasting FreeBSD ports to the pro

The BSDs are known for having a more vertical management structure than other open source projects so I guess the author is contrasting FreeBSD ports to the project itself. It would of been a stronger argument if it had been made explicitly. OK, BSD ports have complex dependencies. That is optional, OpenBSD ports have relatively few dependencies. Is this a good thing or does it lead to more duplication? Packaging is a hard problem. What does the development model have to do with the result? The Bazaar idea is about developing the software in the first place, not what happens to it afterwards.