> 4. Item proposed to vote (after the discussion period)
> [ ] I accept the ratification of IRC channels as a communication medium
> and as such they have to follow the usual Debian policies (adapted
> for IRC habits)
Shall we next have a GR that says:
[ ] I accept that the sky is blue, and that things that my attempt to pass
though it (such as aeroplanes and rockets) must obey the law of gravity.
?
Obviously Debian's the sort of project where there're going to be a
bunch of people who won't accept that, for whatever reasons, but it
strikes me as a bad idea to go around officially ratifying everything
that's common sense to most people.
For example, if we've specifically ratified #debian-private on
openprojects for discussion of issues from -private, what does that say
about discussing -private issues over the phone with another developer? It
could be tapped, after all. Or how about over a coffee or a beer at a
local watering hole? Someone might overhear... If we formally ratify IRC
channels restricted to Debian developers as legitimate places to discuss
things that are meant to be private to Debian developers, won't that
simply serve as precedent that if anyone wants to talk about -private
issues in any of the above locations, or any other, then they need to
have a formal vote to ensure they're allowed to?
Further, formalising this policy buys no one anything: no one's been
thrown out (or threatened to be thrown out, or punished, or anything
of the sort) for discussing -private issues with other developers, or
development issues anywhere. If it doesn't restrict anyone from doing
anything even by inference ("just because it doesn't say you can doesn't
mean you can't"), then we were already allowed to do everything this
allows; if it does restrict people from doing things, then it's making
it harder to do Debian development because we can't communicate as easily
as we might want to.
Legislating where you can and can't talk about Debian issues is
bureaucracy gone mad.
Cheers,
aj
--
Anthony Towns <aj@humbug.org.au> <http://azure.humbug.org.au/~aj/>
I don't speak for anyone save myself. GPG signed mail preferred.
"Security here. Yes, maam. Yes. Groucho glasses. Yes, we're on it.
C'mon, guys. Somebody gave an aardvark a nose-cut: somebody who
can't deal with deconstructionist humor. Code Blue."
-- Mike Hoye,
see http://azure.humbug.org.au/~aj/armadillos.txt
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