The purpose of this mailing list is for discussion of review of Themes submitted for inclusion in the WordPress Theme Repository. It is primarily intended for developers who are submitting Themes, and for volunteers who are reviewing Themes - although it is also intended to solicit input from other experts in the WordPress/Theme community.<div>
<br></div><div>Lively discussion and heated debate are welcomed and encouraged; however, endless discussion and debate are not welcomed or encouraged. When such discussion and debate begin to detract from the purpose of the mail list, then they are no longer encouraged. This specific instance did not involve lively debate and heated discussion; rather, it was comprised of one person arguing a point to which every other single voice involved in the thread disagreed.</div>
<div><br></div><div><i>So, yes: I absolutely disagree with your statement.</i> This mail list is not for general, Theme-related chatter. It does not exist to provide a sounding board for endless ranting. Ending a discussion that has run its course of usefulness is not censorship. (Your words on the mail list still exist in perpetuity; and you are always free - <i>in your own venue</i> - to continue expressing those words.)</div>
<div><br></div><div>Bear in mind: the WPTRT has a task to perform, and the performance of that task does require making decisions regarding competing ideas - ideas with which not everyone will always agree. One of WordPress' guiding philosophies is instructive here: <i><b>Decisions, Not Options</b></i>. At some point, discussion of a decision becomes a distraction, and a detraction, and for the good of the project, it is better to make a decision and to move forward.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We had clearly reached that point in your discussion.</div><div><br></div><div>Chip</div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 9:40 PM, Darren Slatten <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:darrenslatten@gmail.com">darrenslatten@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">In my opinion, the discussion about output buffering that ended earlier today was a complete failure on many levels. I personally spent many hours responding to that discussion thread, and ultimately, I believe it was terminated prematurely simply because a couple of individuals were extremely frustrated with it.<br>
<br>I too was extremely frustrated with the apparent lack of progression, and even more frustrated with the official outcome, but in my opinion, "pulling rank" to stamp out a heated and lively debate...is <b>absolutely unacceptable</b>. This type of censorship should not be tolerated in any open-source project or community, and certainly not in a WordPress mailing list, whose <b>defining purpose</b> is to facilitate exactly these kinds of discussions.<br>
<br>I'd like to contribute some ideas on how we can avoid similar failures in the future, but first I think it's important to establish whether or not everyone agrees that this is a problem. So my question is:<br>
<br><br><br>Should it be okay for some individuals to prevent everyone else from engaging in certain discussions* on this mailing list?<br><br>*assuming the discussion is relevant, appropriate, not abusive, not illegal, etc.<br>
<br><br><br>Some people mentioned in the output buffering discussion that my stance/arguments are difficult to recognize, so I'll emphasize my point here:<br><br><i><b>No one should be permitted to terminate or prevent a relevant discussion on this mailing list, unless there is sufficient evidence to show that doing so is necessary to protect the rights, freedoms, and/or safety of the WordPress community at large, or doing so is required by law.</b></i><br>
<br><br><br>Does anyone disagree with that statement?<br><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><font color="#888888">Darren Slatten<br><br>
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