A single leader isn't the only way

Posted Feb 6, 2025 16:54 UTC (Thu) by kleptog (subscriber, #1183)
Parent article: The selfish contributor revisited

> The process of bringing those viewpoints together is assisted by some kind of leader who can help people see how to combine their inputs into the best solution.

Having a single leader is definitely one way of doing it, but not the only one. It is said the best form of governance is a benevolent dictatorship, but it's also unstable because succession is an issue long term. Though this isn't really an issue for most opensource projects.

You don't need a 'leader' so much as 'leadership'.

The alternative is leadership by a group or council. Much harder to setup and get going , but more stable in the long run. It does require careful nurturing and training, because each of the members of the council needs to have all the skills to negotiate and work with others. This takes effort and will, but leads to better results in the long run.

But yeah, people like 'strong men' and its simplicity does explain why it's so popular in opensource projects (and elsewhere).