At 07:43 29/08/2005, Doug Ewell wrote:
r&d afrac <rd at afrac dot org> wrote:
> - I supported the proposition of an African searcher (they treated of
> troll) to reconcile the desire of a strict ABNF expressed by the WG
> affinity group and the users, R&D and innovation (following ISO
> evolution) support to use the URI-tags RFC in proposing first to use
> the "private use" area. As indicated, a remark shown me it was a
> wrong choice, the private use area also addressing other needs.
Merriam-Webster OnLine defines "affinity group" as "a group of people
having a common interest or goal or acting together for a specific
purpose (as for a chartered tour)."
Exercise for the reader: Explain why this is a bad thing for an IETF
Working Group.
Slowly, the good questions are asked. May be can I suggest to read:
"RFC 3774 2.2.6: Members of this affinity group tend to talk more
freely to each other and former members of the affinity group - this
may be because the affinity group has also come to share a cultural
outlook which matches the dominant cultural ethos of the IETF (North
American, English speaking). Newcomers to the organization and
others outside the affinity group are reluctant to challenge the
apparent authority of the extended affinity group during debates and
consequently influence remains concentrated in a relatively small
group of people.
This reluctance may also be exacerbated if participants come from a
different cultural background than the dominant one."
Obviously I am not much impressed by such "apparent authority"
.... But the affinity group can use its number of to make believe
and organise consensus by exhaustion:
"RFC 3774 2.7: On the other hand, the decision making process must
allow discussions to be re-opened if significant new information
comes to light or additional experience is gained which appears to
justify alternative conclusions for a closed issue. One cause that
can lead to legitimate attempts to re-open an apparently closed issue
is the occurrence of 'consensus by exhaustion'. "
Take care.
jfc
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