[rpd] IPv4 Soft Landing BIS

[Sander Steffann]

Hi,

> However, if the proponents are very passionate about it, let us have a table that shows a one-to-one mapping of objections vs responses. As a community we can do a dispassionate analysis and come up with verdict.
> 
> But rigmarole and counters will not take us anywhere. In Dakar let us bring this to an end, I can't see any part of heaven coming down when we put an end to proposals that are time wasting.

I would very much like to see the end of this going in circles. If the chairs can help focus and time box the discussion that would be great.

There are many issues still on the table that have been there for a very long time. Let's set a deadline at which point at least those objections have to be explicitly addressed (either by coming up with a change to the proposal that takes away the objection, or by explicitly stating on what grounds the objection is considered addressed). Let's then all work constructively towards consensus. If at the deadline there are still unaddressed objections then I think it's safe to conclude that those objections will never be addressed, that this proposal will never get consensus, and withdraw it and stop wasting time on it.

I personally think there will never be consensus, based on the history of the proposal. But it's the choice of the proposers to fight for their beliefs, and they are entitled to fight for them. But if it turns out that it can't get consensus, I think it's the chairs' responsibility to make sure the working group doesn't get stuck in an endless discussion.

Cheers,
Sander

PS: please note that I was and am a proponent of the soft-landing policy in RIPE. I am definitely not someone who opposes such a policy at all cost. But I do think the current policy has serious flaws. I also realise that the situation in Afrinic is very different from other regions and that considering the state of the internet and Africa and the developments in the rest of the world, this policy proposal is the wrong change at the wrong time...