Re: First Call for votes: General resolution for the handling of the non-free section
>>>>> "Thomas" == Thomas Bushnell, BSG <tb@becket.net> writes:
Thomas> We have not be taken away from work by the present
Thomas> discussion, first, it's part of our work, and second,
Thomas> Debian is a volunteer organization. Nobody is obliged to
Thomas> be part of this discussion.
I think that is incredibly misleading. I suspect based on thought
that has gone into many of the messages on this list that man months
of time have been dedicated to this discussion.
Personally I've chosen to work on my packages more than participate in
this discussion because I have limited resources. But as you point
out this issue is important to the project and so I am disappointed
that I cannot focus enough time to work on my packages and better
follow this discussion.
But there is a significant cost to this discussion. Denying that cost
and denying the cost to additional discussion is unreasonable.
I ask you to be responsible in looking at the results of this
election. If the results make it clear that most of the voters have
made up their minds and are done with the discussion, then let the
issue rest. Unless and until the situation changes and you reasonably
believe that you have a significant chance of a different outcome,
continuing the discussion would be a waste of the project's volunteer
resources.
No, people are not obligated to follow the discussion. However once
there are enough interested parties to give the discussion momentum,
many of us feel that it is only prudent to follow the discussion even
when we'd rather be doing other things. It's especially frustrating
if we're reasonably sure that nothing will come of the discussion but
not sure enough that abandoning the issue is appropriate.
Of course if the election is close or especially if further discussion
wins, then you may find that you immediately reasonably believe
continuing the discussion is productive.
Thanks for your consideration,
--Sam
Reply to: