Terence Eden

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/115569820207257167

One of the things we don't talk about enough is how to secure the peaceful transition of power in open source projects.

We've all seen BDFLs turn into mad kings.
There are innumerable projects which have collapsed when the founder left.
Hostile takeovers prevail in some communities.

The whole Mastodon team should feel proud at this move. A clear structure, fair compensation, and a secure footing for the future.

Onwards!

Nov 18 at 9:28amWeb
Show threadStéphane BortzmeyerNov 18
@Edent I don't know about "open source" (whatever that means) but for free software, the issue is not so important since power is distributed (that's one of the freedoms that come with free software). Any team/person can take the lead.
Show threadTerence EdenNov 18

@bortzmeyer that is demonstrably untrue.

Your free software can shatter into a thousand forks - but we all know that just leads to confusion.

If only one person controls the website / signing keys / trademark / whatever, then the project is brittle. And far too many F/OSS projects have a single point of failure.

Show threadStéphane BortzmeyerNov 18

@Edent Controlling the brand is some power but let's not exaggerate it. MariaDB had no problem replacing MySQL, even if the brand was strong.

Also, claiming that free software is controlled by an organisation and that you cannot do anything without this organisation. Is dangerous. Why moving away from proprietary software, in that case?

Show threadTerence EdenNov 18

@bortzmeyer

These resources suggest otherwise.

https://6sense.com/tech/relational-databases/mysql-vs-mariadb
https://db-engines.com/en/ranking

Humans organise. Like ants, it is our super-power. I'm arguing that *better* organisations are beneficial.

I've yet to see anarchy flourish in reality.

MySQL vs MariaDB: Relational Databases Comparison

Compare MySQL vs MariaDB 2025. MySQL has 191654 and MariaDB has 11221 customers in Relational Databases industry. Know more.

6sense
Show threadStéphane BortzmeyerNov 18
@Edent I did not mention anarchy but freedom. MariasDB is organised, too. Just not the same organisation (the previous one being bought by Oracle)
Show threadMortenNov 18
@bortzmeyer @Edent MariaDB was made by original developers of MySQL (Maria is literally My's little sister) so that shows, in my mind, that is hard to hand off projects.
Show threadVincent 🐡Nov 18
@Edent @bortzmeyer And we have an example : Gitea and Forgejo. Forgejo was created because of issues inside of Gitea governance and these software are free software
Show threadStéphane BortzmeyerNov 18
@vinishor @Edent Yes, the great thing about free software is that it always has an "escape card". So, organisation governance issues are less an issue than with proprietary software. You are not married for life.
Show threadVincent 🐡Nov 18
@bortzmeyer @Edent I agree, but I also think that we could do better in the first place to avoid these issues. Creating a fork can be a good thing, but improving organization methods are better for me
Show threadEmily_SNov 18
@Edent this is remarkable to the point I struggle to think of another example of doing it well that is half as big.
Show thread⁂ Fish Id WardrobeNov 18
@emily_s @Edent Python?
Show threadEmily_SNov 18
@fishidwardrobe @Edent oh yeah, boring to the point I'd forgotten it happened
Show threadPaul LeaderNov 18
@Edent Well that's just so good to see, that's made my day. After witnessing WordPress and the whole thing with Ruby and Rails right now, watching people behave like grownups is a breath of fresh air.
Show threadaburka 🫣Nov 18
@Edent the new guy's thread says a lot of the right things, but I can't say I'm reassured to see someone with "a business and finance background" taking the reins 😬
Show threadTerence EdenNov 18
@aburka you're right. Terrible idea to have a firm financial footing and an understanding of now to effective use money.
Show threadaburka 🫣Nov 18
@Edent you'll forgive my skepticism given that MBAs are sometimes more interested in financial engineering and growth at any cost than technical excellence. Look at what's happened to Firefox with McKinsey drones in charge. I don't think that's happening here yet but we'll see.