The document talks about ways in which consensus processes can be successfully
run in the IETF. After the last few rounds of versions, I believe this document
is ready to move forward.
My goal is to publish it as an Informational RFC. It is an explanation of
principles and how they can be applied to productively move IETF discussions
forward. While there is no change to IETF processes or any presumption that
guidance from this document must be followed, I have found the document very
useful. It has been referred to numerous times in IETF and IESG discussions.
Consensus is hard and many WG discussions have complex trade-offs and differing
opinions. I believe having this document become an RFC would help us apply the
useful principles even more widely than we are doing today.
The abstract says:
The IETF has had a long tradition of doing its technical work through
a consensus process, taking into account the different views among
IETF participants and coming to (at least rough) consensus on
technical matters. In particular, the IETF is supposed not to be run
by a "majority rule" philosophy. This is why we engage in rituals
like "humming" instead of voting. However, more and more of our
actions are now indistinguishable from voting, and quite often we are
letting the majority win the day, without consideration of minority
concerns. This document is a collection of thoughts on what rough
consensus is, how we have gotten away from it, and the things we can
do in order to really achieve rough consensus.
Note (to be removed before publication): This document is quite
consciously being put forward as Informational. It does not
propose to change any IETF processes and is therefore not a BCP.
It is simply a collection of principles, hopefully around which
the IETF can come to (at least rough) consensus.
The draft can be obtained from
http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-resnick-on-consensus
You should see a last call announcement soon, and both me and Pete look forward
to your feedback.
Jari