Benevolent dictator for life (BDFL) is a title given to a small number of
open-source software development leaders, typically project founders who retain the final say in disputes or arguments within the community. The phrase originated in 1995 with reference to
Guido van Rossum, creator of the
Python programming language.
History
Shortly after Van Rossum joined the
Corporation for National Research Initiatives
The Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), based in Reston, Virginia, is a non-profit organization founded in 1986 by Bob Kahn, Robert E. Kahn as an "activities center around strategic development of network-based information technol ...
, the term appeared in a follow-up mail by Ken Manheimer to a meeting trying to create a semi-formal group that would oversee Python development and workshops; this initial use included an additional joke of naming Van Rossum the "First Interim BDFL". According to Rossum, the title was most likely created by Ken Manheimer or
Barry Warsaw.
In July 2018, Van Rossum announced that he would be stepping down as BDFL of Python without appointing a successor, effectively eliminating the title within the Python community structure.
Usage
BDFL should not be confused with the more common term for open-source leaders, "benevolent dictator", which was popularized by
Eric S. Raymond's essay "
Homesteading the Noosphere" (1999).
Among other topics related to
hacker culture
The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy—often in collective effort—the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming the limitations of software systems or electronic hardware (mostly digital electronics), ...
, Raymond elaborates on how the nature of open source forces the "dictatorship" to keep itself benevolent, since a strong disagreement can lead to the
forking of the project under the rule of new leaders.
Referent candidates
Organizational positions
See also
*
Design by dictator
References
{{notelist
Free software culture and documents
Computer programming folklore
Software engineering folklore