[cab-discuss] election calendar decision reqd

[johansen-osdev at sun.com]

Hi Al,

> > What does it mean for campaigning to end?

> > For that matter, why is this even important?  I don't mean to nitpick,
> 
> If it was considered OK for a candidate to generate unusual levels of
> email across a wide number of OpenSolaris lists during the election
> period, then the other candidates would feel pressured to do the same and
> our technical forums would turn into OGB election related "spam" for two
> weeks.

This policy is going to be difficult to enforce.  Assuming that candidates
abide by the prescribed decorum, is it reasonable to expect that other
people won't continue to campaign on behalf of the candidates?  As an
example, can Swift Boat Veterans for OpenSolaris continue to post to
mailing lists after campaigning has ended?

I'm having a difficult time imagining how we can force parties who
aren't candidates to stop advocating a particular viewpoint after
campaiging has closed.  Aren't the candidates at a disadvantage if we
prevent them from participating in political discussions just because
campaiging has ended?  I may have misunderstood what the proposal is;
however, I do think Keith has a valid point: is it important to try to
limit what and when candidates may express opinions?  It would be my
preference to avoid any kind of restrictions.

-j