On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 9:39 AM Mike Schinkel <m...@newclarity.net> wrote:

> Benjamin,
>
> Thank you for your comments.
>
> One thing I want to clarify though; your reply seems to imply that I asked
> this questions solely because of the object initializer RFC.  That is not
> the case.  I had these exact same questions before the object initializer
> RFC was submitted based on reading other people's comments on other RFCs.
>

You mentioned the object initializer RFC, so I assumed you asked because of
it. Everything applies generally though.

Also I reread my answer to 1 and it may have come a across a bit harsher
than I wanted. I just meant to say that it takes some time to get internals
development as a newcomer, for everyone to accustom to you. Remember PHP
development often happens in circles of years, rather than months and years.

>
> -Mike
>
>
>
> On Sep 16, 2019 at 2:00 AM, <Benjamin Eberlei <kont...@beberlei.de>>
> wrote:
>
> Hello Mike,
>
> On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 3:50 AM Mike Schinkel <mikeschin...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I am relatively new to discussions on the list, and so I have tried to
> > understand the ethos of the community to stay within bounds that the
> > community generally considers acceptable.
> >
> > However I am realizing those the bound of acceptability may be fluid at
> > times so I am asking explicitly for clarification.
> >
> > 1. What is acceptable to discuss in an RFC discussion thread?
> >
> > Recently while discussing object initializers I was told "I think that's
> > only true because you've actually proposed a number of related but
> > different features," "This is an interesting additional proposal," and
> > "This again is an interesting proposal, but completely unrelated to object
> > initializer syntax."
> >
> > But I was replying to a message where a frequent and I believe a respected
> > contributor wrote the following, also unrelated to the RFC: "My strong
> > preference over this feature would be named parameters, which can provide
> > the same abbreviated initializations, but works more consistently with the
> > language, e.g. for all of the use-cases I cited above."
> >
> > I am not naming names because I am not trying to make this about those
> > people but instead to understand what is appropriate to discuss during an
> > RFC.  So Is it is appropriate to discuss:
> >
> > 1. Alternatives to the RFC?
> > 2. Enhancements to the RFC?
> > 3. Modifications to the RFC?
> > 4. Other features that are a pre-requisite for the RFC's feature?
> > 5. Other features that would add value to the RFC's feature?
> >
> >
> Everything you list is appropriate to talk about as feedback to an RFC. But
> the way I see it from participating in this list for a few years, you
> should do your research and try to offer feedback in a systematic and
> organized way. The discussion phase is at least 2 weeks, for RFCs
> discussing a feature for the first time often many months. So you have
> plenty of time to formulate your feedback. Also in general feedback from
> core contributors often carries more weight for RFC authors than feedback
> from non core contributors, because they might rate the implementation more
> closely with potential conflicts or problems and have the low level
> implications in mind.
>
> I haven't followed the discussion on object initializer fully, but I see
> that you messaged 10 times out of all 36 mails, so that is a bit much.
> Consider that the RFC author is also just a person doing this in their free
> time and wants to make effective use of that.
>
> In general, the RFC author usually has more say in the implementation
> details and syntax, because they are bringing forward the proposal and
> implementation, meaning the burden of work is on them. Especially syntax is
> often very subjective, so convincing the RFC author of a different approach
> requires compelling arguments, often technical from an engine perspective.
>
>
> >
> > 2. Are "amendments" acceptable for RFC discussions?
> >
> > I am thinking of Congress in the USA, Parliament in the UK, and other
> > political governing bodies. My understanding is that bills are introduced
> > and they have the possibility of being amended by other members of the
> > political body.
> >
> > Comparing that to the RFC process it seems RFCs are like bills; is there
> > an amendment process, and if so how does it work?  From what I can to amend
> > an RFC requires getting the original submitter to modify it, which if that
> > is the process that is understandable.
> >
> > However, what seems strange is that I also understand there is a 6 month
> > moratorium on revisiting a topic that did not pass by RFC, but an RFC could
> > potentially not pass because of details in the RFC and not because the
> > overall idea is bad.
> >
> > If I understand correctly, this means others cannot restart a topic for 6
> > months because the person who first drafted the failed RFC did not or would
> > not incorporate aspects that might have allowed it to pass?
> >
>
> Amendments are up to the discretion of the the RFC author to include based
> on feedback. It happens that several people team up, or merge efforts.
> There also have been a lot of competing RFCs that were voted or discussed
> on at the same time. So if you feel strongly about a different approach,
> then you might want to turn it into an RFC. See named params vs skip params
> or scalar type hints v5 vs coercive type hints.
>
> You can offer a competing RFC in a shorter time frame. The 6 month are just
> for the original RFC + author.
>
> >
> > 3. Why is there not more transparency for why RFCs pass or do not pass?
> >
> > Looking in from the outside I see is almost no transparency related to
> > reasons why RFCs pass vs. don't pass. When I visit the RFCs of past I see
> > lots of votes but almost no rationale why those votes passed or failed.
> >
> > There are a few active members on the list, but many more people who have
> > a vote who I think rarely if ever comment on the list.  So it seems
> > impossible to determine what the objections are from the people who vote
> > against an RFC.  Which means it will be hard to address their concerns as
> > time goes on and other languages evolve because of userland demand to add
> > the features that PHP voted down.
> >
> > Unlike the US Supreme Court and I assume many other nation's supreme
> > courts, the people with an RFC vote are not required to write or join an
> > opinion as to the reason for or against an RFC.
> >
> > This unfortunate state means the rationale for the PHP group voting for or
> > against an RFC is lost to the mists of time, except for the history left by
> > the few vocal people who have the free time to participate on the list in
> > discussions. Most of the people with a vote rarely opine on the list, or
> > that is the impression I am getting.
> >
>
> This is a regular discussion point on the list, with the general idea is
> that -1 voters should provide some rational on the list, but that is not
> happening often. You'll find that this repository from Dan is an excellent
> resource on failed RFCs: https://github.com/Danack/RfcCodex
>
> You can also do research on the mailing list for the voting and discussion
> threads, for example using news.php.net or externals.io as readers you can
> search for previous discussions.
>
> >
> > ----------
> >
> > Thanks in advance for reading and responding to these questions. And based
> > on the replies, I may have a few more follow up questions.
> >
> > -Mike
>
>

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