Henrik --
Sorry for the delayed response here. I was on holiday through yesterday,
and am just now digging out from under the email backlog.
I want to be clear that I'm responding on behalf of myself, and not on
behalf of the RSOC as a whole.
Ted's email ("RSE bid Process") accurately captures the timeline:
Heather's resignation came after the RSOC's recommendation to the IAB,
but before the IAB deliberated on said recommendation.
I would take care with suppositions in this space ("possibly as a result
of..."). Without direct input from Heather, it's difficult to estimate
how much of a factor this recommendation may have played in her
decision. I also want to emphasize that the singular goal of the
recommendation was an attempt to de-risk the process of finding a
replacement for Heather in the eventuality that she were to step down,
which is why it was carefully couched in language that explained that
the recommendation was in no way a reflection of Heather's performance.
Clearly, things didn't play out the way we hoped, and the irony of the
actual outcome is not lost on me.
On a personal note, I do very much wish that Heather had chosen to stay
on as RSE. I'm currently having to deal with the dual hit of losing
Heather as the RSE as well as the weight of the community's reaction to
an outcome that I believe no one on the RSOC were steering towards,
including allegations that we have been less than straightforward in
explaining our motivations. So I apologize if this mail and others on
the topic seem a bit defensive.
/a
On 7/2/19 10:19 AM, Henrik Levkowetz wrote:
Hi Adam,
I posed a simple question to Sara earlier, one I'd really like to have
an answer to. Your points about fabricated assumptions below brings
this to mind again, because fabricated assumptions are prone to appear
in the absence of fact. So I'll ask you what I asked Sara, with added
emphasis:
Did the RSE indicate that she did not intend to renew _before_ you informed
her that you were going to put the contract out for bid in 2021, or
_after_, (possibly as a result of you informing her about the early re-bid)?
Regards,
Henrik
On 2019-06-26 21:29, Adam Roach wrote:
By way of disclosure, I'll be the first to point out that I'm on both
the IESG and the RSOC, and so I'm going to have a certain perspective on
the events underway. I hope that my statements below stand on their own,
independently of whatever interests my position may imply.
On 6/26/19 10:20 AM, Michael Richardson wrote:
I am claiming that some think that this situation has just occured, and it
resulted in the RSE deciding to do something else rather than attempt to
continue fighting against some bad thing happening.
(I am not saying that I even understand what the "thing" was, or agree that
it was "bad")
You or anyone else for that matter. What happened is:
1. We, the community, liked Heather personally
2. Heather is leaving
3. So we're sad [1]
You're kind of pointing sideways at some conspiracy theories that people
have come up with to explain why #2 happened, but they're not really
supported by facts in evidence. This is natural: because of #3, it's
understandable to try to find someone to blame. But this is why you're
having a hard time understanding what the "thing" is: it's whatever
boogeyman the conspiracy theorists have chosen to invent for that
moment. And so it's definitely "bad", but it isn't actually "real".
I'm not saying that all of the critical posts on this topic are wrong.
There are some valid points being made about the overall RFC Editor
model, its history, and where its future may lie; and some of these are
necessarily being couched as criticism.
But there is also some poorly motivated rage being expressed based on
wholly fabricated assumptions, much of which seems to be impervious to
facts and unable to cite sources. Again, this is an understandable and
natural reaction to being sad, although it is far from helpful. Even
worse, it may harm our ability to find a suitable replacement for
Heather: who wants to walk into a community full of rage?
And so I strongly encourage you -- and others -- to be wary of arguments
based on supposition. Share what you know and think, but please don't
amplify untested theories.
/a
____
[1] I'm using "sad" here as a proxy for a complicated maelstrom of
negative emotions that people seem to be undergoing at the moment.
There's probably an entire doctoral thesis's worth of explanation that
could be used to describe these emotions more accurately, but I don't
have the tools to do so.
