Rambling

To extend the thought experiment though, without getting into a long debate over the politics of the kernel, let me ask you a question. Can Linus "fire" a kernel maintainer? Because, pragmatically speaking, I think the answer is "yes".

Linus has ultimate authority over what code gets merged into Linux. That this is a fact should not be controversial. That is, he can decide who to accept patches from. He can provide public guidance to others as to who he will accept patches from and what sub-systems he will accept those patches from. If Linus can remove a maintainer from their job and replace them with somebody else, I think that saying that Linus can "fire" a maintainer is a reasonable simplification of language.

For the purposes of this conversation, I think we can agree that calling Linus "the boss" is a similar simplification of language. He has exactly the same attributes as my boss does in terms of how much power my boss has in forcing me to align with his views. Historically, Linus has wielded that power and done so quite effectively. Pretending that he has not or cannot is not an argument in good faith.