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@pluralistic Thank you for a wonderfully epathetic look at tech BDFL's. This clarifies much of my thinking. Jimmy Wales is a well chosen example of a way forward.
In my work, in geospatial standards and FOSS software, I am focusing more and more on Governance. While treated as a dirty (or at best boring) word by many, it is key to understanding how to make the transitions you describe. I recommend https://sociocracy30.org to start reimagining what governance can be.

@pluralistic Hah

"I was part of a movement of people who would come over to your house with a stack of floppies and install TCP/IP and PPP networking software on your computer and show you how to connect to a BBS or ISP, because we wanted everyone to have as much fun as we were having."

man, that's been a *while*, but it really felt like we were having too much fun for it all to be legal (mostly).

@pluralistic Guido van Rossum, inventor of #Python - one of the most significant programming languages the last 10 years - is another like Jimmy Wales. He formally relinquished his role as (literally titled) BDFL in 2018. It wasn't entirely smooth, but remarkably, like the factory owner giving the business to the workers to run as a cooperative, he turned the whole thing over to the collective and said "you decide how you want to self-organise".

Very cool.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180713195259/https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-committers/2018-July/005664.html

@pluralistic 1. This takes me back to the days when I was mactech@supra.com, writing white papers on using Supra modems with Mac apps. I specifically remember sitting up all night getting SLIP and PPP to work with the 28.8 models.

2. This particular piece is super timely, with the court ruling coming out today on the WP vs WPE kerfuffle. OMG. https://www.404media.co/wordpress-wp-engine-preliminary-injunction/