Open Source Is Not A Democracy

So, not FreeAsInSpeech™, then?

My, how our heroes have feet of clay. Mr Shuttleworth admits:

It’s fair comment that this was a big change, and landed without warning. There aren’t any good reasons for that.

Some might say that there aren’t any good reasons for Ubuntu to exist, and leave it at that. But, no:

This is not a democracy. Good feedback, good data, are welcome. But we are not voting on design decisions.

Some might say that, given Ubuntu’s history of making design decisions, democracy could only be an improvement.

The comments on the original thread are pretty spiffy, but, as usual, the comments from the Slashdotterei are either hugely entertaining, or hugely depressing, depending upon your attitude.