The real question we need to ask ourselves about the government of FOSS

With all the hullabaloo around Ubuntu these days, everybody has an opinion and a poll. Linux Journal just asked their users if FOSS is a democracy. I think they are asking the wrong question. Democracy, republic, meritocracy, aristocracy, none of it matters as long as the developers know what their users want, and are able to make that happen. So my question is:

In a conflict, should open source developers listen to their users, or rely on their 'better judgement'?

If you were in Mark Shuttleworth's shoes, what would your response have been?