Bug#797533: New CTTE members

[josh@joshtriplett.org]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 11:57:59AM -0400, Sam Hartman wrote:
> >>>>> "Josh" == Josh Triplett <josh@joshtriplett.org> writes:
>     Josh> Assuming that the "often results in FD" holds true, and that
>     Josh> this doesn't encourage snap judgements, this seems like a very
>     Josh> good idea to me.
>
> I think that except in very special circumstances coming to any decision
> other than FD
> would be really problematic.
> It's almost certain that two hours after an issue is received someone's
> going to feel (and probably be) unheard if a decision is made.
> Even if it's the right decision, the social costs of making it and not
> giving people a chance to explain their position are likely to be really
> high.
>
> At that point, I'd see it more like overrule maintainer pending longer
> discussion.

That's not a bad plan, actually.  The three standard options could be,
in effect, "preliminary injunction against the maintainer to avoid
immediate harm, but we still need to talk about this more", "dismissed
as completely inappropriate to have taken to the TC at all", or "we need
further discussion before we can even offer an opinion".

That would help in the case of a last-minute change before a release,
for instance, where the right decision may be "this change shouldn't
have gone in right before the release, so revert it for now and let's
talk".

>     Josh> (That said, I would suggest in particular that the ctte
>     Josh> exercise extreme caution if the bug log does not show evidence
>     Josh> of a maintainer response that demonstrates an irreconcilable
>     Josh> situation.  The ctte should still be a *last* resort.)
> 
> I disagree here too.
> Making TC binding decisions should remain a last resort.
> I think we could do a much better job getting involved somewhat earlier
> in some cases.

That's fair, sure; I was specifically talking about exercising extreme
caution before making a decision to overrule a maintainer without a
response on record from that maintainer.

Having TC members, or anyone else, help to facilitate communication and
discussion doesn't need any special caution.

- Josh Triplett