On 12/01/2015 06:26 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
On 12/01/2015 09:18 AM, Timon Gehr wrote:
On 12/01/2015 03:01 PM, Saurabh Das wrote:
now told that 75% of the community doesn't like the change.
I'm sorry to enter this discussion, but that's simply not what the poll
is saying. It should be very obvious that the poll is basically
meaningless.
Independent on the topic at hand - wondering what your reasoning is. I
just took a look and there are 205 votes. Not a large number, but quite
a lot more than any voting we saw in the past (when consensus was
proclaimed after like 15 votes :o)). Intuitively I agree with you, but I
wonder at what point numbers become large enough to capture meaning.
Thx! -- Andrei
It's a question of process. When a poll should return results meaningful
for motivating plans of action, it is conducted in roughly the following
manner:
0. It is decided that a poll makes sense. (Ideally by means previously
agreed upon.)
1. The consequences of the different outcomes are specified.
2. Arguments for each option are made available. (Somewhat optional, but
there certainly shouldn't be any bias and/or vitriol in the original
announcement!)
3. Steps are taken to ensure everyone affected gets a reasonable chance
to vote. (Ideally, those who are not affected should not be allowed to
vote, but that is hard to enforce in practice.)
4. The voting takes place, with a deadline defined well in advance.
5. The consequences that were initially specified are applied (after the
poll has closed).
To support those points, just re-check the results. Since this thread
has started (with a suggestion to take actions based on the poll), the
answers have basically evened out. It is currently at 48% vs 52%:
http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=565587f4e4b0b3955a59fb67
This effect wasn't as strong when I wrote my previous post, but it does
not surprise me at all. I myself have still not taken the poll of the
troll, and I am quite confident that there are others with a similar stance.
