Benevolent Dictator for Life

From Pigasoftware

"Benevolent Dictator for Life" (abbreviated as "BDFL") is a common jocular title for a leader of a free software project (most often though not always for open source methodology based projects), it is used by Piga Software. Hamish Paul Wilson is the current BDFL of Piga Software as well as several of its projects. Graham Lawrence Wilson is also the BDFL for several projects, largely based around the creation of game engines.

The term's meaning, beyond a joke, is that during a serious debate over a project's future, and no consensus is reached, the the "dictator" has the final say. This is important for open source methodology projects and any project that contains group collaboration.

External Links

• Wikipedia Article