On 6/12/13 9:42 PM, Ted Lemon wrote:
On Jun 12, 2013, at 3:31 PM, Peter Saint-Andre <stpeter(_at_)stpeter(_dot_)im>
wrote:
I think these messages are useless, not harmful. But perhaps I have
more confidence in the inherent skepticism of your average IETF
participant than Pete does...
FWIW, until I read Pete's document on consensus, I thought that +1 statements were
part of the consensus process. This was not a strongly held opinion—it was
just my understanding of how consensus operated, from having watched other working
group chairs run their working groups. I think the point Pete is making is very
important, because the consensus process Pete describes is more in keeping with how I
think the IETF ought to operate than the process in which +1 counts for something.
+1 / -1
are conventions that crept in from other standards bodies, they don't
have any particular place or meaning here, apart from what you can
literally interpret them as e.g. the equivalent of hand raising in
agreement or disagreement.
(BTW, in case it wasn't obvious, I've been engaging in this discussion with my
AD and working group chair experience in the back of my mind, but my AD hat
off.)