“Consensus-Dictator-Fork

“I believe the only practical model for running a successful open source project is the Consensus-Dictator-Fork (CDF) model. It’s a fancy name for how most open source projects work. Decisions are made by consensus whenever possible. This usually covers 95% of the decisions by the simple mechanism of proposing a change and asking for strong objections. When strong objections are raised and consensus does not emerge, the project BDFL (benevolent dictator for life) makes the final call. If enough people object to that decision, they fork the project and create their own. It is a naturally self-balancing system.

“CDF doesn’t solve the problem, but it provides the first building block.”

http://hueniverse.com/2014/10/22/wide-open-or-are-you-in/