wmb@MITCH.ENG.SUN.COM (Mitch Bradley) (02/11/91)
> I say again, I do NOT have a set of "sufficient" criteria -- the > "magic formula" you requested to produce the perfect standard. But > I have suggested some minimum or "necessary" criteria. Please > distinguish between the two. The problem with criteria, either "necessary" or "sufficient", is that there is no mechanism for either consistently applying or enforcing them. There is no "judicial system" with the authority to overturn decisions, and individual members are not compelled to vote according to some set of criteria. Having joined the committee by the usual means (showing up at two meetings in a row), I was granted full voting rights, which I then used according to my best judgement. I did not agree to uphold the constitution by applying a set of predetermined criteria. However, I was persuaded by rational arguments that certain guidelines were "good" and should be kept in mind (e.g. try to minimize the breaking of user's code, try not to invalidate popular implementation techniques, etc). No guideline is absolute. Mitch