Re: supermajority options
>>"Branden" == Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> writes:
Branden> On Fri, Nov 22, 2002 at 12:06:01PM -0600, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
>> I think this is not really a matter of screwing up, this is a
>> matter of, in some cases, avoiding the tyranny of the majority;
Branden> ...a platitude directly rebutted by the paper to which John
Branden> Robinson linked.
Except I have not found the paper to be convincing; I think
that the underlying assumptions are about mechanisms that are far
different from ours, and that this difference is enough to invalidate
the conclusion reached.
I suggest people read the paper and reach their own conclusions.
>> My contention is that there are a number of documents that
>> define what the project is; and that we agreed to follow when we
>> signed on to the project, and any changes to these documents, which
>> cut to the heart of not just the developers, but the whole free
>> software community (the DFSG is known as the gating criteria for free
>> software far beyond the extents of the project), ought to be signed
>> on by _most_ of the developers.
Branden> Yes. Anything more than half is "most", by definition.
1. Consisting of the greatest number or quantity; greater in
number or quantity than all the rest; nearly all.
I meant the nearly all nuance.
>> So, supermajorities are, in my opinion, still needed for cases
>> where we want a (very) rough consensus, where mere majority ought not
>> be the sole criteria for adopting a measure.
Branden> consensus
Branden> n : agreement of the majority in sentiment or belief [syn: {general agreement>
Word games, I see. The common usage, when it comes to making
decisions in debian, has been a term closer to unanimity.
Branden> Hear, hear. I agree that we should have a rough consensus
Branden> before changing such documents.
I would have defined rough consensus to be about 90% of the
people agreeing.
Branden> We just don't need a supermajority to have it.
I beg to differ.
manoj
--
"I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix." Vice President
Dan Quayle
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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