Linus Torvalds' Benevolent Dictatorship (Business Week)

Posted Sep 1, 2004 4:49 UTC (Wed) by xoddam (subscriber, #2322) [Link]

Actually it's the complete opposite of a constitutional monarchy.

A constitutional monarch holds all authority but no power, as power
is vested in politicians who are responsible to the monarch and the
people for their errors.

On paper, Torvalds holds almost no authority at all, but in practical
terms he wields a lot of power -- as long as he uses it *responsibly*.
One slip and he'll lose his leadership role altogether.

Linus is the Prime Minister, not the King.

Of course, I can think of at least two prominent Prime Ministers of
the early 21st century who have thrown constitutional convention to
the winds and care not a whit about being responsible to the public.
Linus' responsibility is better enforced :-)