Re: [hybi] WS framing alternative

[Pieter Hintjens <[e-mail]>]

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 6:01 AM, SM <[e-mail]> wrote:
> At 21:22 29-10-2009, Ian Hickson wrote:
>>
>> What is the process for proceeding in the IETF when people have
>> fundamentally different and mutually exclusive opinions?

Speaking from experience of the AMQP design process over the last five
years, which was riven by such arguments...

Technical designs should not be opinion-driven at all.  There are
optimal (provably optimal) solutions for any well-defined problem.  If
two people do not agree on such solutions then either they are solving
different problems (this is most common), or they are not aiming for
optimal solutions but instead familiar and/or pre-existing solutions
(this is also common).  Or they are just incompetent with delusions of
competence (perhaps most common).

Even the expression of opinion is a sign that the design process is
failing or will fail to pinpoint the most accurate solution.

A forced compromise often creates a mediocre solution.

A better way to resolve the conflicts of interest that many of us
bring to such discussions is to create competition between solutions,
i.e. multiple protocols that implementors can choose.  Over time that
will drive the solutions towards an optimum.

This is all opinion, of course and does not answer the question of how
the IETF works, but may be a useful guideline for knowing how to
resolve conflicts of opinion.  Namely, if you start by saying "I
think", you are probably wrong.  :-)

-Pieter Hintjens