/usr/X11R6 process

[Jim Pick <jim@jimpick.com>]

This is going to be a pretty tough policy decision to make.  Right
now, we've got several people who are holding "positions" for or
against different proposals.  That's not going to move us any closer
to a resolution of this policy question.  That's a sign that we might
have to move to a more formal process.

The way to deal with something like this is to:

 1) Make a list of proposals, and the pros/cons for each one.

 2) Ask everybody from refrain condemning a particular proposal.  Instead,
    ask them to keep an "open mind", and ask them to contribute by adding to
    the list of pros/cons for each particular proposal.

 3) In the end, we should have a document outlining the options with a list
    of technical and political pros/cons for each option.  Everybody
    should be able to agree upon the content of the document, which will form
    the basis for making a decision.

 4) A decision should be made by the people who have the responsibility
    of determining Debian policy.  They'll "judge" the options using the
    common set of "objective criteria" that goes into all Debian project
    decisions.  Hopefully, the rendered judgement will be publicly
    justified in terms of those "objective criteria" (which may need to be
    publicly debated before a judgement can be made).

    I'm not clear on what our current setup is for that.  Do we have a policy
    czar?  Maybe it goes up to Ian Jackson?  Maybe he'd like to put it to a
    developer vote.  I'm not sure.  Does anybody have any pointers to the
    current proposed constitution/policy setup?

Do people agree with this proposed process?  If it's OK, I'll make a
first draft of the document, which we can debate.

Cheers,

 - Jim