A note from Hare’s BDFL

Hi! My name is Drew DeVault. I am the original author and designer of the Hare programming language, and, with the mandate of the Hare community, I am the project’s benevolent dictator for life (BDFL).

The Hare project has grown a lot since I started working on it, and today there are many talented people who work on the project at all levels, including those coding in the trenches, in leadership positions, setting cultural norms, and maintaining various subsystems or co-maintaining the project as a whole. For the most part, the project runs smoothly thanks to their efforts and does not require me to tread on too many toes.

In my role as the BDFL, I aim to offer the project a number of helpful resources, such as:

  • Overseeing the fiduciary responsibilities of the project

  • Setting (and clarifying) the broader vision and direction for the project

  • Organizing participants and empowering them to roles for which they are suited

  • Planning long-term priorities and design goals

  • Mediating conflicts in the community

  • Providing the last word when consensus cannot be reached

I also have the burden of doing the nasty work when necessary: if required I may exercise my power to remove difficult parties from the community, revoke permissions of participants if necessary, or put my foot down on a proposal that does not align with the project vision.

I am endowed with the last word, but I aim not to use it when it can be avoided. I am a very busy person, and the project’s scope exceeds my ability to manage it alone. As such, it delights me when the community steps up to take on responsibilities at every level. I try not to impose my will on the project too much – it’s better if my role as the BDFL is a tool that the community chooses to use when necessary.

If my resources are required to see something through, I have some specific appeals regarding how community members can best utilize my attention. I cannot keep up with most of the IRC discussions and a substantial fraction of the mailing lists, but I will endeavour to participate when my presence is directly requested.

If you require simple admin tasks, that only I am able to perform (e.g. spending money on something, updating harelang.org DNS, managing contributor permissions on SourceHut, etc), send me an email directly (sir@cmpwn.com) and I’ll try to get it done within a day or two.

Otherwise, you can get my attention on a discussion by Cc’ing me directly on an email or mentioning my name (ddevault) on IRC. [1] You can also reach out to me privately via email or IRC if you have something specific to discuss or request. The latency on such requests may be annoying, but please be patient and I will strive to answer in the timeliest manner possible.

That’s all! Thanks for participating in the Hare community, and thanks for your trust. Have fun out there!

Footnotes