Good points, but I think you need also to SHOW that it's a open protocol. And be transparent. That is the only way to grow to a mid size protocol and bigger. A new user needs to be able to come to the protocol and see in a few clicks how it's goverened, who controls it, what the licenses are and what the evolution is. Developers will ask these questions. Ubuntu is a good example of doing this.

All *humans* are subject to state violence. There is no less risk for the core maintainers of a foss repo than to the c-level of a corp. Both are fully open-source, both are dependent on a few sources of funding, both are led by corruptible killable humans. Otherwise, I challenge you to find a more principled benevolent leader than myself.