Dont know this information is relevant but i felt this might be a useful information
Quoting from RMS's Essays :
Chapter 20: Free Software : Freedom and Cooperation
paragraph 3: ( please understand the context in which this assay was written and then this paragraph will be clear)
In this respect, free software is a new mechanism for democracy to operate. Pro-
fessor Lessig, now at Stanford, noted that code functions as a kind of law. Whoever gets to write the code that just about everybody uses for all intents and purposes is writing the laws that run people's lives. With free software, these laws get written in a democratic way. Not the classical form of democracy–we don't have a big election and say, "Everybody vote which way should this feature be done." [audience laughs] Instead we say, basically, those of you who want to work on implementing
the feature this way, do it. And if you want to work on implementing the feature
that way, do it. And, it gets done one way or the other, you know? And so, if a lot of people want it this way, it'll get done this way. In this way, everybody contributes
to the social decision by simply taking steps in the direction that he wants to go.
And you're free to take as many steps, personally, as you want to take. A business
is free to commission as many steps as they find useful to take. And after you add
all these things up, that says which direction the software goes.