> but with apparently so few people being able to be closely involved, in almost may as well be.
What is this based on? My own personal experience is quite opposite - the development community is very welcoming, has a diverse set of participants, and conducts its discussions and decision-making process out in the open.
In general you are correct. However, when you get into developers capable of making convincing and secure cryptographic products, you get into a seriously reduced subset of the whole of all developers; regardless how welcoming a community is. Bitcoin Core developers sound, at least, like a seriously reduced subset of cryptographic developers since knowledge of blockchain dynamics and such is also complex.
What is this based on? My own personal experience is quite opposite - the development community is very welcoming, has a diverse set of participants, and conducts its discussions and decision-making process out in the open.
Also see my other comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11229435