On Friday 17 December 2004 00:13, Noel J. Bergman wrote: > Well, actually the dictionary does: > http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=attrition. And, yes, when someone > suggests that those who don't agree with him remove themselves from the > decision-making process, I would call that consensus by attrition.
Why didn't you list the meanings given by your link; <quote> 1. A rubbing away or wearing down by friction. 2. A gradual diminution in number or strength because of constant stress. 3. A gradual, natural reduction in membership or personnel, as through retirement, resignation, or death. 4. Repentance for sin motivated by fear of punishment rather than by love of God. </quote> Assuming that 4. is not what people are talking about; 3. indicates that any reduction of numbers can be called by "attrition" irregardless of method for that to occur, which I would see no harm in per se. 1. and 2. is probably what people are referring to, which are essentially the same. Avalon has apparently been full of stress for a very long time, way before Merlin was in Steve's head. Heaps of people left due to it, a long, long time ago. I find it awkward that the most stress-tolerant people are accused of doing something bad. Are they responsible for adding to the stress? Yes. But so are many of the people who left. And regarding the developer/committer base in Merlin; Some highly successful projects in ASF, has started with just a few people, and not exceeding 5 in its first year. Merlin's first *beta* release was in Sep 2003, then effectively 1 committer. The first official release, endorsed by the PMC, was in late May this year, and effectively two core committers and 3-4 working on auxillary stuff. Now, there are 4 developers in Metro who hack around in the core, and ~3-4 working on aux stuff. I would call this natural progression, even within ASF. Attrition happens in all projects, no matter if they are successful or not. It is only how you play the word game, the FUD and the general politics whether it is perceived as 'believable' or not. Cheers Niclas -- +------//-------------------+ / http://www.dpml.net / / http://niclas.hedhman.org / +------//-------------------+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
