You're not going to end the "cults of personality" in free software for the same reason it won't end in other types of software, in software companies, in compa

You're not going to end the "cults of personality" in free software for the same reason it won't end in other types of software, in software companies, in companies in general or in the government (a really big company but without the fiscal constraints of having to be profitable). The culture in these places, for better or worse, are initially driven by some small number of charismatic leaders who can create either a good culture or a bad culture. Entropy demands that well-maintained culture must tend towards chaos as an organization grows. At this point, inertia helps prolong the original culture initially, but then provides a huge barrier to reclaiming a favorable lost culture. Finally, the organization's reliance on oral history (we're horrible at really documenting these things) fails as older members of the tribe leave and are replaced with idealistic whippersnappers. The cycle is complete when these young'ins become resigned to their position as a "cog-in-the-machine" and stop trying to effect change. I'm not pessimistic ... I've just been around this cycle a few times.