BENEVOLENT DICTATOR FOR LIFE

A 'benevolent dictator for life' is usually the head of a open source software project that is given the final word in most decisions. The term is based on a Monty Python sketch, and was first applied to Guido van Rossum, the creator of the Python programming language. This person is not a dictator in the common western concept of one due to the fact that one must to some extent bow to the wishes of the majority if the Benevolent Dictator for Life wants to maintain the position, or risk a fork of the project.

Contents

BDFLs

References

BDFLs

★ Guido van Rossum: Python programming language ^[1]

★ Patrick Volkerding: Slackware^[2]

★ Larry Wall: Perl^[3]

★ Mark Shuttleworth: Ubuntu

References

1. Lutz, Mark and Ascher, David ''Learning Python 2nd Edition.'' Sebastopol: O'Reilly & Assoc., 2003. ISBN 0-596-00281-5. pp. 11--12.
2. The Slackware Linux Project: About This Site
3. Larry Wall: Perl's Benevolent Dictator