5 ms·

It's interesting how in open-source projects, BDFL (Benevolent Dictator for Life) is usually not seen in a negative light, and the Wikipedia article does not li

by flixic 6y ago

It's interesting how in open-source projects, BDFL (Benevolent Dictator for Life) is usually not seen in a negative light, and the Wikipedia article does not list any "problems": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life

rsynnott 6y ago
I don't think the role usually changes _that_ much as the project becomes big (and in practice if the project becomes really big the BDFL often either has a practical role change or steps down). But founding a two-person startup is so fundamentally a different thing, requiring a totally different skillset, to being the CEO of a company with thousands of people, that it's not surprising that problems are common.
marcosdumay 6y ago
Open source has very low barriers to a take-over.
- dannyw 6y ago
  Given how easy you can fork it, BDFLs arguably have the strongest 'consent of the ruled'.
ivraatiems 6y ago
I absolutely see it in a negative light. I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior, not technical ability), and he's got the same cult of personality around him that many abrasive CEOs do. See also recent drama around Elm and the difficulty some have had with its maintainers. Open source is, if anything, even more likely to suffer negative effects. And less likely to properly report or handle them, because even the bare minimum profit motive isn't there as a monitor. (In terms of companies, by the way, Epic Systems - that is, the EHR company, not the game company - and Valve Software are two good, little-talked-about examples of this problem.)
- exolymph 6y ago
  From the pro-Linus Torvalds pro-BDFL perspective, people like you being repulsed by it is actually a feature, not a bug. This may come across as aggro, but I just mean that people culturally self-sort into the groups they vibe with the best.
- robocat 6y ago
  > I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior I think that is misguided opinion. Linus is mostly correct (the opposite of Founders Syndrome). He obviously has great interpersonal skills, otherwise Linux would not hold together as a team, and it would be forked by groups within. Even his “rants” seem well reasoned and purposeful (not unguided anger), and he changed his behaviour when pressured by some of those he works with: a sign of maturity and definitely not Founder’s Syndrome (has he kept their support?). A “BDFL” maintains their position by people voting with their time and effort, and support is withdrawn if the BDFL lacks the emotional skills or technical “taste” to maintain group cohesion.
- spottybanana 6y ago
  > I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior, not technical ability), and he's got the same cult of personality around him that many abrasive CEOs do. The pudding is judged by its taste. To me it seems that Linus manages to crunch out great results. His communication style makes headlines and many people don't like it, but can it be proven that it actually makes the results worse? There are loads of open source projects and I'm not convinved that having superior communication style is the key to having a succesfull project.

by flixic 6y ago

rsynnott 6y ago

I don't think the role usually changes _that_ much as the project becomes big (and in practice if the project becomes really big the BDFL often either has a practical role change or steps down). But founding a two-person startup is so fundamentally a different thing, requiring a totally different skillset, to being the CEO of a company with thousands of people, that it's not surprising that problems are common.

marcosdumay 6y ago

Open source has very low barriers to a take-over.

dannyw 6y ago
Given how easy you can fork it, BDFLs arguably have the strongest 'consent of the ruled'.

ivraatiems 6y ago

I absolutely see it in a negative light. I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior, not technical ability), and he's got the same cult of personality around him that many abrasive CEOs do. See also recent drama around Elm and the difficulty some have had with its maintainers. Open source is, if anything, even more likely to suffer negative effects. And less likely to properly report or handle them, because even the bare minimum profit motive isn't there as a monitor. (In terms of companies, by the way, Epic Systems - that is, the EHR company, not the game company - and Valve Software are two good, little-talked-about examples of this problem.)

exolymph 6y ago
From the pro-Linus Torvalds pro-BDFL perspective, people like you being repulsed by it is actually a feature, not a bug. This may come across as aggro, but I just mean that people culturally self-sort into the groups they vibe with the best.
robocat 6y ago
> I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior I think that is misguided opinion. Linus is mostly correct (the opposite of Founders Syndrome). He obviously has great interpersonal skills, otherwise Linux would not hold together as a team, and it would be forked by groups within. Even his “rants” seem well reasoned and purposeful (not unguided anger), and he changed his behaviour when pressured by some of those he works with: a sign of maturity and definitely not Founder’s Syndrome (has he kept their support?). A “BDFL” maintains their position by people voting with their time and effort, and support is withdrawn if the BDFL lacks the emotional skills or technical “taste” to maintain group cohesion.
spottybanana 6y ago
> I'm often critical of Linus Torvalds (in terms of communication and behavior, not technical ability), and he's got the same cult of personality around him that many abrasive CEOs do. The pudding is judged by its taste. To me it seems that Linus manages to crunch out great results. His communication style makes headlines and many people don't like it, but can it be proven that it actually makes the results worse? There are loads of open source projects and I'm not convinved that having superior communication style is the key to having a succesfull project.