Re: [Pesci-discuss] principles for decision-making

On 11/1/05 11:22 AM, "Sam Hartman" <hartmans-ietf@mit.edu> wrote:
> I'm here because of the consensus process.

Could you describe what you mean by that?  The reason I ask
is that what I'm seeing is that there really isn't a functioning
consensus process in the IETF in general, at least when it comes
to making decisions.  Collaboration, sure, but not consensus
decision-making.  Chairs tend to ask for votes on various
questions, dissenters tend to be brushed aside, and so on.  I
like consensus process, too, and have a pretty fair amount of
experience with it, but at this point I'm not convinced that
the IETF can get back on track with decision-making without
a fundamental change to the decision-making process.

I'll also note that in the security area you're more likely
to find the conditions that lead to successful consensus
decision-making, while in other areas you're not.  These
conditions would include things like a reasonably constrained
problem space, the participants have basic technical values in
common, and so on. 

There are other tweaks that can be made, as I mentioned (like
using clearer recording to improve transparency), and while I'd
like to find some way to fix consensus process in the IETF I
suspect the organization is just too big, too diverse, and too
competitive to permit that.  I'd be delighted to be wrong.

Melinda

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