Etymology

benevolent dictator for life

Today it means: The leader of an open-source software project, typically project founders, who retains the final say in disputes or arguments within the community. Full definition →

First used 1995
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The story

Originally applied to Dutch programmer Guido van Rossum, creator of the Python programming language, in an email from 1995. According to van Rossum, coined likely by either Ken Manheimer or Barry Warsaw.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 1995 The leader of an open-source software project, typically project founders, who retains the final say in disputes or arguments within the community.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.