[OpenID board] Allen Tom's proposal on WG formation

Eddy Nigg (StartCom Ltd.) eddy_nigg at startcom.org
Sat Feb 28 03:21:20 UTC 2009


On 02/28/2009 03:00 AM, Martin Atkins:
> Mike Jones wrote:
>> The problem with this proposal is that it removes the community’s 
>> voice from the spec creation process.  Our members should always be 
>> given the option to vote NOT TO create a working group as well as the 
>> option to vote TO create one.  Otherwise, a working group can be 
>> created by a very small group of insiders, without the community 
>> serving as a check & balance.
>>
>> The current procedure, by design, always gives the community a voice, 
>> and the final say.  I believe we got this principle right the first 
>> time.
>>
>
> Your objection seems to consider that there are some disadvantages to 
> the existance of a working group. Would you mind enumerating what you 
> consider these to be?
>
> As far as I can tell, the existence of a working group is mostly 
> harmless. It consumes some resources in the sense that it has a 
> mailing list and it requires votes to be made, but that seems like 
> minimal overhead.
>
> Could it be sufficient to simply vote on the final spec rather than on 
> the creation of the working group in the first place? If the community 
> doesn't like the result, it can veto the completed spec rather than 
> the idea that drove that spec.
>
> In practice, I'd expect that a working group would get a general idea 
> of whether it is popular or not during its working phase, so some 
> working groups may "die out" due to lack of interest before they even 
> get to the voting phase.
>
>

I find Mike's proposal interesting. How can a spec at final approval be 
voted down, considering that the same mechanism is applied for approving 
a spec as well?

Regards
Signer: 	Eddy Nigg, StartCom Ltd. <http://www.startcom.org>
Jabber: 	startcom at startcom.org <xmpp:startcom at startcom.org>
Blog: 	Join the Revolution! <http://blog.startcom.org>
Phone: 	+1.213.341.0390


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