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Authoritarianism of Code

Zed Shaw · 7 Oct 2020

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  1. It's my belief that authoritarianism is so ingrained in the fabric of software development that it has been internalized to such a degree that even the most anti-authoritarian people cannot avoid being authoritarian.
  2. In short, I believe there is no such thing as a Benevolent Dictator for Life, and that by learning why that's true you can better decide to for yourself how you want to spend your free time.
  3. With that covered I can now devise a straightforward definition of authoritarianism: Any deference to authority given or taken without the enthusiastic informed consent of everyone involved.

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