Re: [idn] report of the straw poll

[Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu>]

> There is massive distance between agreeing that a problem is urgent and
> agreeing that a particular technical path is the best solution.

no doubt.
 
> Jumping to assert the correctness of a particular solution has proved
> problematic, here.  

No doubt about that either.  But I don't think I've made any such assertions.

There is a point beyond which you're not likely to get any agreement on the
nature of the problem.  I think we reached that point several months ago.
There is likely to continue to be a gap between those who strongly feel
that we must provide the minimal possible disruption to the installed base
and those who strongly feel that we cannot afford to saddle everyone with
ASCII baggage forever.    Both views have merit, they simply reflect different
kinds of experience.  But there's no way to establish for certain which path 
is better.

Fortunately we really don't have to have concensus on the nature of the 
problem in order to make progress.  All we have to do is get consensus
on a solution, or at this point, on a strategy for moving forward.  We 
don't have to have consensus on the reason for choosing that strategy.

Keith