Open Source Governance

Oxide and Friends · 30 May 2023 · 1h 25m · Episode 15

What this episode covers

Ashley Williams, a former member of the Rust core team and instrumental in setting up the Rust Foundation, joins Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal to discuss the governance crises within the Rust open-source project. They analyze the failure of the Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) model, the dangers of implicit power structures, and the challenges of transitioning from a volunteer-based hobby project to a corporate-funded enterprise. The conversation highlights specific issues such as the lack of clear vision, the weaponization of NDAs, and the difficulty of managing conflict in a global, consensus-seeking community.

Mentioned

Companies
Rust Foundation, Mozilla, System76, Oxide Computer Company
Also
Rust, Node, Linux, Elixir, Redox OS

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The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Oxide and Friends. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.