[Foundation-l] Pending Changes development update: September 27

[Jimmy Wales]

  On 9/28/10 7:41 PM, Risker wrote:
> Yes it is, and it's an important one.  Several of us had already been
> working on a plan for the second trial, and those of us discussing had
> widely agreed that it would be much more likely to be successful if more of
> the recommendations on improving the software were incorporated, thus our
> recommendation that it not proceed so rapidly.

I respect what you are saying here, very much.  But I think the right 
approach is always "release early, release often".  There is no need to 
rush, but there is also no reason not to release fixes as they are 
available, because there is no particular "ship date" with marketing, etc.
> It's pretty hard to maintain motivation, though, when it's clear that the
> software's going to be a permanent feature regardless of what the project
> does or thinks, and that any further "trial" is not going to change that
> fact.
I think that's very very far from true.  I think that everything the 
Foundation has said, and everything that I have said, and everything 
that (nearly) everyone on all sides has said, indicates nearly 100% 
universal agreement that in order for the feature to be enabled 
permanently, it has to achieve consensus.

Consensus is not a "hold one vote and give up if you don't make it" 
process, but rather an iterative give-and-take.

If I believed that the current version was the best that the Foundation 
could deliver, I would be adamant about just shutting down PC as soon as 
is practical, and believe that the right way forward would be to push 
for major expansion of the use of semi-protection.   I would hate to do 
that, because I think that a well-implemented PC is a better solution 
than semi-protection, striking a better balance.

My point is this: I think it very far from a foregone conclusion that we 
will have PC in use in the longterm.  It has to improve a lot before 
that can happen.  The early signs, though, are that it was popular.

--Jimbo