Subject: "rough consensus" vs "consensus"

From: "Mike O'Dell" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 11:16:04 -0400 (EDT)

there is a big difference between these two terms

the politically-correct notion of concensus that's
been used in a couple of postings is based on the
notion that everyone's opinion is equally important

they aren't - people should get over it 

rough consensus weights opinions based on the demonstrated
clue density of the opinion holder.  that means an effort can
come to closure when some others still don't understand what's
going on.  yup - it can be subjective, as are most design
decisions.  again, people should get over it. remember, when
doing its best work, the IETF is a *meritocracy* and some are
a lot more equal than others

and sometimes there *isn't* a "mutual accomodation", and that's
fine, but then someone has to make tie-breaking a decision
and move on.  again, the goal is forward progress doing
good work.  bare feet sometimes don't fare too well.

important note: 
the IETF excercise isn't about making people happy, 
it's about doing good work

when people strongly advocate doing less-than-good things,
they often end up unhappy

this is a feature

	cheers
	-Mike O'Dell