Re: DISCUSSION: publish list of nominees?

[Robert Elz <kre@munnari.OZ.AU>]

    Date:        Thu, 04 Apr 2002 13:29:10 +0200
    From:        Brian E Carpenter <brian@hursley.ibm.com>
    Message-ID:  <3CAC3906.1B905FEF@hursley.ibm.com>

  | The error cases have to be handled (as they have to be under 
  | today's rules). But I thought we were trying to reach a decision 
  | of principle first, rather than work out all the details. 

Once again, I vehemently object to that approach.

Decide the principle first is the approach taken by people who know
they can never succeed if everyone is aware of the details first.
So, instead they create some nice sounding principle, get people to
buy into that, and then having decided the principle, can convince
people that one way or another, they simply have to make it work.

Eg: (for something completely unrelated to networks, etc...) it might be
nice if everyone would agree to the principle that sunscreen should be
available to everyone at the beach.   Just concentrate on the principle
and you can probably get people to agree to that.

Now we just have to make it work - not everyone can afford sunscreen, so
clearly we have to find some means to acquire it, that's easy, we'll just
(one way or another) tax people to raise the funds.   After all we have
already agreed that sunscreen has to be available to everyone, that's the
only way that seems to work.   Then, not everyone goes to the beach, but
we already agreed that sunscreen should be available to everyone at the
beach, so we'll just require everyone attend their nearest beach, that's
the only way to get the sunscreen to everyone ...

Of course, that's absurd, but it is also the approach being advocated here.

So, no, reaching a decision of principle first is *NOT* the aim.  If
you want to write a proposal that actually deals with all of the details,
then perhaps you will get me to agree with it.  I will never agree with
just the principle.

kre