DVCSes have the critically important property that there is no longer any inherent technical center of development but that the social center of development is retained (usually).
This is a really good point. It allows the social structure of the project to grow and change in a very natural way which makes it not only easier to adapt as committers come and go, but effortless.
The social center is also decided by a kind of marketplace.
With central control of a repository, you can have what amounts to an "irrigation rights empire" -- a totalitarian regime (perhaps with some democratic window dressing) based on one party's control over some sort of infrastructure.
This is a really good point. It allows the social structure of the project to grow and change in a very natural way which makes it not only easier to adapt as committers come and go, but effortless.