Re: Statements against new.net?

[Scott Francis <scott () virtualis com>]

On or around Tue, Mar 13, 2001 at 12:34:25PM -0800, Owen DeLong may have written:
[snip]
> While I agree that having one true root is good, and that for the
> time being, that should be the ICANN root, the bottom line is
> that whether we like it or not, that is, indeed, a political
> issue and not a technical one.  Sure, the desire to have one root
> is driven by technical merits.  However, how that root is chosen,
> which root it is, and who gets to decide are all political issues.
>
> The fact that the current method of choice is "It's the one that has
> been there the longest" doesn't change the fact that it is a method
> of choice, and that it is a political issue.

that is exactly the problem - it has become a political issue, when it should
be judged _solely_ on technical merit. Backend network operational issues that
have the capacity to fork or render inoperable the Internet as we know it
deserver to be debated and judged exclusively on the basis of what is the Right
Thing To Do.

Whatever method we end up using as a translation between the user interface and
the network, it needs to be chosen because it's the Right Way and not
because X number of people like/don't like it, or because choosing it will
please Corp. Foo that has Y percent market share or Z gazillion dollars.

Technical matters should be decided on technical merits. If we're deciding them
on political merits, then something is already broken and needs to be fixed.

-- 
Scott Francis           scott@   [work:] v i r t u a l i s . c o m
Systems Analyst     darkuncle@   [home:] d a r k u n c l e . n e t
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