[development] taking a break

[Chad Phillips -- Apartment Lines]

Nedjo wrote:

 >> There are very few members of our community who consistently meet  
these
 >> measures. Dries is one of them, and Drupal's success is due in  
significant
 >> measure to that fact.

i agree.  but let me suggest that there's a bit of a self-fulfilling  
prophecy going on here.  i think more members of the community could  
meet the measures you outlined, if they were given the chance to  
assume the responsibility, make some mistakes, and learn.

what i'm about to say is merely an educated guess, but i'm betting  
it's fairly accurate given how humans learn and grow: in the  
beginning, dries probably made more mistakes than he does now in his  
decisions about what to commit/not commit.  he probably committed  
things that, looking back, he would not have committed given his  
current level of experience in his position of leadership, or vice  
versa. he probably learned some invaluable lessons from those  
mistakes that inform his current decision making process.

not providing other people that same process inhibits them from  
attaining the experience necessary to lead.  your greatest lessons  
come from your mistakes.  if, as i have suggested, dries made any  
mistakes in his time of leadership on the project, we've been able to  
survive those just fine.  we'll survive any mistakes that other  
leaders will make, too -- especially since they have the benefit of a  
mentor.  in the process we'll build new leaders. (by the way, please  
don't misconstrue the above to mean that i think the initial commit  
of the deletion api was a mistake, because i don't!  i'm examining a  
larger dynamic here.)

one thing that i find particularly perplexing is the gravity with  
which these kinds of changes are regarded. we participate in the kind  
of endeavor where we can make adjustments if we start to see we're  
heading in the wrong direction.  nobody's life is at stake if we make  
a mis-judgement here or there...  ;)  i guess for me that engenders  
some spirit of experimentation -- not wild experimentation, but  
reasoned changes that result in valuable feedback.

 >> Compare comments here, two and a half years ago:  http:// 
drupal.org/node/15916

in that long thread, this was one of the most salient passages that i  
found:

"One of the concerns people may then have -- a longer-term concern --  
for something like Drupal is: what happens when the torch is passed.  
Does it remain an autocracy, and are people going to be pleased with  
whomever assumes the role of autocrat? More importantly; what  
assurance do the contributors have that this is going to result in  
the continued health and well-being of the thing they have helped  
create?"

those kinds of considerations provide credible weight to idea of  
grooming new leaders today, no matter what the current conditions are.