[python-committers] PEP stewardship delegation: the minimal change approach

[Paul Moore]

On 14 July 2018 at 08:05, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> So stealing Brett's excellent suggestion of "Design Steward" as a
> BDFL-independent term for the current BDFL-Delegate role, a potential
> PEP 1 amendment for the appointment process would be:

I've only got one peripheral point to make here, but can we keep the
term "BDFL" and its derived terms? Even if we no longer have a BDFL
(although the "FL" means that Guido is still our BDFL, even if he has
stood down from the actual day to day responsibilities), Carol made
the important point that Python is about community as much as it is
about a programming language, and that community is built around the
BDFL. I think it's important for the community that we continue to
acknowledge the place of the BDFL in that role, even if it's now a
notional position.

As a British person, I suppose I think in terms of the royal family.
No actual function in terms of government, but important in what many
people (both within and outside Britain) consider being "British" to
mean (apologies to any republicans out there).

Paul