"Language is humanity’s most spectacular [set of] open-source project[s]"
- #GretchenMcCulloch
https://gretchenmcculloch.com/book/

In this analogy, the core maintainers are the editors of dictionaries. Users of language can follow the standard package encoded in dictionaries, but are also free to modify to fit their needs and preferences, and share their customizations with their neighbours.

Book: Because Internet

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language From Riverhead Books (Penguin, US) and Harvill Secker/Vintage (Random House, UK), available in hardcover, audiobook, ebook, and paperback! …

Gretchen McCulloch
Correction: just realized that was from a blurb *about* Gretchen's book, not a direct quote from her. Ooops ...