> "Open Source is a flat structure and seems to work in many awesome ways." and "... naturally occurring ones seem to evolve better and work better."
I agree that open source is awesome but successful projects are not at all 'flat' structures. Just think about all the governance processes that are necessary once a project grows beyond a certain size. These allow a project to achieve some kind of longevity. Simply thinking about who has commit access should indicate that there is clearly some form of hierarchy (at least, some form of 'in-crowd').
If you think that the 'naturally' occurring hierarchies work better, then I'd posit that you've only been in the 'in-crowd' for those projects -- of course it's difficult to see the downside from that vantage point.
I agree that open source is awesome but successful projects are not at all 'flat' structures. Just think about all the governance processes that are necessary once a project grows beyond a certain size. These allow a project to achieve some kind of longevity. Simply thinking about who has commit access should indicate that there is clearly some form of hierarchy (at least, some form of 'in-crowd').
If you think that the 'naturally' occurring hierarchies work better, then I'd posit that you've only been in the 'in-crowd' for those projects -- of course it's difficult to see the downside from that vantage point.