Why Dries Buytaert is Not Steve Jobs

…and why that’s a good thing.

While watching Dries Buytaert deliver his “State of Drupal” keynote at DrupalCon SF 2010, I could not help being struck by the humble and subdued demeanor of Drupal’s founder as he stood on the big stage addressing a full house of nearly 3000 conference attendees. The Belgian-born developer made multiple references to being nervous about speaking in front of such a large audience and definitely did not speak with the vigor and fervor of your typical motivational speaker attempting to rally the troops. And yet, in his own unassuming way, motivate he did.

Dries Buytaert is no Steve Jobs, and that may very well be the secret to his success. Jobs is famous for his elaborate, polished and memorable keynotes. He is truly one of the finest and most respected speakers in the tech industry, with his arrogant confidence and spotless pragmatism. Watching Jobs speak, listeners are not only compelled to drink the Kool-Aid, but feel almost ashamed at having ever doubted that his Kool-Aid is the best Kool-Aid ever.

Contrast that with the speaking style of Buytaert, with his contemplative gaze and quiet tone. Despite the passive deportment, I am willing to bet that his delivery is more effective on this audience than even the mighty Jobs. The open source developer community is a strange lot that loosely approximates the classic definition of the computer nerd: smart, sun-starved and slow to trust. The success of Drupal, quite possibly the most important thing to happen to the web since porn, rests exclusively on the shoulders of this community, and I can think of no one more suited to inspire them than Buytaert.

Why? In his quiet way, he inspires passion and trust in a community that has heard it all. By the end of his talk, I was not left with an unquenchable desire to run out and buy his latest invention. I was not inspired to buy into the future of technology that will revolutionize the way I work and live. I was, however, inspired to do exactly what Drupal needs: join the legion of Drupalistas and make Drupal better.

That is Dries’ secret weapon: buried not-so-deep under his developer's shell is an infectious and genuine enthusiasm for Drupal and the community that makes it great. Or perhaps it’s just the Kool-Aid talking. Either way, it works.