Too many lords, not enough stewards

Maybe maintainers are doing too much: release management, coding, technical direction, and people leading appear to be what the maintainers would *ideally* do, and in most of the software dev world that's three to four different jobs. On top of that there's always the chance (as Daniel pointed out) of making the front page of The Register if Linus goes on one of performance art excursions to express displeasure with your work.