Rules

["Scott E. Fahlman" <Fahlman@C.CS.CMU.EDU>]

I think that KMP is a bit out of line in complaining that he has now
blown his entire time budget for this stuff and that new versions are
somehow out of line.  When problems are spotted, even late in the
process, they have to be fixed, and then we need another round of
consideration.  Things only become final if we manage to come up with a
version that nobody objects to, or if we explicitly agree to disagree.
For those of us who insist upon having a say on the final form of every
issue, it is impossible to set an a priori limit on the time that will
be required.  We need some balance between the power of the chairman to
ram through a lot of unexamined changes at the last minute and the power
of any one member to block progress because he has some other commitments.

However, I agree with KMP that Masinter is at fault in several areas.
The most serious problem is that he has greatly increased the amount of
time the rest of us must spend in considering new versions by changing
things in gratuitous and unrecorded ways.  Larry also put a few of his
own ideas into the new versions without any prior discussion -- a
practice he used to complain bitterly about when I was chairman.
Finally, he has thrown everyone into a panic by making it look like a
modified proposal might go out with a statement of support by people who
stated support for the previous version and not necessarily the current
one.

-- Scott