Hypothesis: the reason Linus Torvalds is still BDFL for Linux, but Guido van Rossum recently announced he is stepping down as BDFL of Python, is that GvR is jus

Hypothesis: the reason Linus Torvalds is still BDFL for Linux, but Guido van Rossum recently announced he is stepping down as BDFL of Python, is that GvR is just a lot nicer as a human being. Being a BDFL either requires getting a lot of abuse and not responding in kind, or being such an irascible boor that it doesn't bother you. Just a hypothesis; I've never met either one and never been a BDFL either.