IESG -- 5 September 1991 -- ftp://ftp.ietf.org/iesg/iesg.91-09-05
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Mailinglist vs Face To Face Meetings

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Minutes
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5. Technical Management Issues

Several issues have been raised on the IETF mailing list in the past
week.  Among these issues was the difficulty of reaching consensus on
electronic mailing lists.

A discussion triggered in part by discord in the SMTP extensions
working group has been brought to the IETF mailing list.  Often there
is a dis-continuity between the apparent consensus on a mailing list
and the apparent consensus in a face to face meeting.  Because these
two groups may be composed of different actor, it is often difficult
to reach closure.  The question asked was: "Can the IETF use
electronic mail as a means to do business and reach consensus?". The
IESG found the discussion interesting and reached the following
tentative position.

POSITION: Mailing lists are vital for input and participation of the
IETF working groups, however, face to face meetings are more efficient
at negotiating and reaching consensus.  When a conflict arises on a
mailing list which cannot be resolved in a face to face meeting due to
the inability of a principle to travel, the chairman has the
obligation to act as the mediator and break the impasse.