We are forking D

[BlueBeach]

On Tuesday, 9 January 2024 at 15:01:28 UTC, H. S. Teoh wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 09, 2024 at 02:02:36PM +0000, BlueBeach via 
> Digitalmars-d wrote:
>> On Tuesday, 9 January 2024 at 13:22:08 UTC, Timon Gehr wrote:
>> 
>> > ... See druntime.
>> I'm not familiar with this case. It is part of the DMD 
>> repository. Can you link/give a little more background?
>
> [...] In 2004, after attempting to work with upstream, these 
> developers were left
> 	with no option but to fork the language to keep their
> 	contributions [...]

Thanks for the info and wow. Thats 20 years ago (already) ...

> After more than 10 years of this very same pattern repeated 
> over and over -- someone comes on board, actively contributes, 
> sometimes makes major contributions, then leaves in a huff or 
> withdraws from active contribution -- one cannot help asking 
> the question, why?  What are we doing wrong that's driving 
> willing contributors away?  What should we do to change this?

Since you asked , I hope it is OK if I share my opinion on this 
topic although I'm mostly a lurker and not active in the 
community.

I think the main reason for some of the reoccurring 
organisational issues and their unpleasant side effects are 
unresolved questions around Walters authority. Since Dlang is an 
Open Source project, there are expectations on a certain level of 
democracy. Nobody is perfect and a flawed democracy would 
probably suffice, but a lot of people seem to experience the 
Dlang community as a flawed oligarchy where only a minority has a 
saying and sometimes even those people are omitted. Maybe a less 
nice way to describe the style of this project is a mix of 
meritocracy and dictatorship. While nobody is against leadership 
by merit, there is a reason why autocratic forms of government 
are disliked: They are poor in words and highly unpredictable.

In the end only Walter as the founder of the project can decide 
how and if he wants to define and exercise his authority and how 
fundamental democratic structures should be. One thing I know for 
sure: If you want a more democratic and predictable leadership 
you are not getting it by chance. It is not the natural state and 
you really have to fight (or work) for it.