Re: Let's have a vote!
Martin Read <zen75502@zen.co.uk> writes:
> On 16/09/14 01:00, lee wrote:
>> Shall we have a vote? AFAIK, there's nothing that would speak against
>> having one, in this very mailing list. Why not ask the users? Why
>> should only Debian developers be allowed to vote but not the users?
>
> Debian users, on the other hand, are very much *not* a
> strongly-identifiable group; there is no formal mechanism whatsoever
> for being endorsed as an Official Debian User.
I'm aware that "Debian users" cannot be easily identified. You could
even argue that all users of distributions based on Debian, like Ubuntu,
are "Debian users". In any case, how well someone can be identified as
belonging to some group doesn't allow to conclude anything about their
ability to make good decisions.
All this doesn't mean that we couldn't have a vote here, with the people
present in this mailing list. This list is for "Debian users", after all.
> As such, a vote "by the users" can, *at best*, be a vaguely indicative
> straw poll of those bona fide users who feel strongly enough about
> matters to participate in the first place;
Technically, yes --- practically, votes are used differently. Besides,
votes are one of the major flaws of democracy.
> at worst, it will be a magnet for trolls, astroturfers, shills, and
> other such reprobates.
Yes, of course those will suddenly become aware that there's a vote
going on here and can be bothered to subscribe to the list and to take
part in the vote.
--
Knowledge is volatile and fluid. Software is power.
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