Spencer Dawkins wrote:
Just following up here...
From: "Lakshminath Dondeti" <ldondeti@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
But, I wonder why anonymity is an important requirement. The mailing
list verification has at least two properties that are more important
to the IETF: the archives provide for anyone to be able to verify the
consensus independent of the IETF hierarchy (chairs, ADs and whoever);
further the archives provide a means to verify the consistency of any
IETF participant, chairs or ADs at any given moment, candidates for WG
chair and I* positions, and anyone in general.
We've been telling new WG chairs for several years that
- they really need to have most discussions in public/on mailing lists,
- we recognise that some people aren't comfortable challenging others in
public, and
- we recognise that this discomfort may be more common in some cultures
than in others.
So, for reasons that both John and Lakshminath identified, we've been
asking WG chairs to encourage participants to engage in public
discussions, but to be receptive to private requests for assistance on
how to carry out those discussions.
The alternative - a WG chair who tells the working group that the
apparent WG consensus on the mailing list is being overruled because of
anonymous objections that the WG chair cannot share with the WG, or
because of private objections that the WG chair is "channeling" from a
back room - would make voting seem reasonable (or, to use Mark Allman's
characterization in another thread, "seem charming").
This is not an alternative.
If you are not willing to make your technical objections to a technical
specification publicly, then they cannot be part of the IETF decision-making
process.
What's to prevent a WG Chair from "padding" the anonymous "votes"?
If 5 people in public (WG meeting or mailing list) are for some
proposal, and the Chair says, "I heard from 6 people who
are against this, but don't want their identities known, so the
proposal is rejected." Not acceptable.
Thanks,
Spencer
Andy
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