[wfc] Straw Vote on voting

[Rob Seaman]

Hi Bob,

But it isn't the hierarchical structure of the current process that runs counter to emerging internet norms.  An alternative could have been to reorganize tier 2.  And the geographically regional committees may seem quaint in cyberspace, but are also still not obsolete - certainly the politics of astronomy continues to have national and international divides, as do the various professional astronomical societies like the AAS.  I would have thought the original notion of dividing the process up that way was to avoid dividing it up by the more contentious ground-based versus space-based, or O/IR versus radio versus high energy communities - that is, to avoid the word "versus".  It has served this purpose well.

The only reason to reorganize a process is if the goal is to make use of the new process.  This suggests that "internet" means something more like "rapid change".  I doubt I'm alone in finding the recent murmurings from ADASS yet unpersuasive, and in wondering what changes will be proposed.  For instance, network byte order was a design choice, not an oversight.

The community may best be served by preserving FITS in something close to its current form and creating / adopting a new format.  The focus should be on encouraging a toolset for converting back-and-forth, etc - that is, for reemphasizing the original baseline data interchange / archival role.  It might also be prudent for FITS to move some of the more mature conventions like tile compression and checksums into the mothership standard.  But then, such a proposal was never presented to the regional committees for deliberation, unrepresentative or not.

At any rate, neither participation nor lack thereof in a straw poll is significant, so I'll redouble my abstention ;-)

Rob
--

On Nov 20, 2013, at 7:14 AM, Robert J. Hanisch <hanisch at stsci.edu> wrote:

> Hi Rob.  The problem with the regional committees is that they do not represent where astronomy is being done anymore, and really, the whole concept in the era of the Internet is just obsolete.
> 
> Bob
> 
> From: Rob Seaman <seaman at noao.edu>
> Date: Wednesday, 20 November 2013 9:07 AM
> To: Arnold Rots <arots at cfa.harvard.edu>
> Cc: "wfc at nrao.edu" <wfc at nrao.edu>
> Subject: Re: [wfc] Straw Vote on voting
> 
> Kind of depends on what it is replaced with.  The regional committees have had basically nothing to do with holding any proposal up or slowing the process down, rather few proposals have been tendered for consideration.  FITS and the astronomical community have been served well by the current conservative deliberative process.  Streamlining the steps removes checks and balances that have rarely been exercised - will others be implemented?
> 
> So I feel obligated to ABSTAIN from this straw poll in the strongest possible way.
> 
> Rob
> --
> 
> On Nov 19, 2013, at 11:46 AM, Arnold Rots <arots at cfa.harvard.edu> wrote:
> 
>> Dear WFC,
>> 
>> A few weeks ago I alerted you to the proposal by the chair of the
>> IAU FWG to make a drastic change to the voting procedures and
>> to dispense with the regional committees - yes, the WGAS FITS
>> Committee would cease to exit.
>> 
>> The comment period for this proposal has ended and a vote by the FWG
>> is imminent.
>> But I thought it would only be reasonable to give all of you a role in
>> this process, too - it likely will be a final act for this committee.
>> 
>> The proposal in its final form is at:
>>     http://sax.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~lucio/FITS/Proposal/newrules.html
>> 
>> I call for a straw vote on this proposal (procedures do not allow for a real vote).
>> 
>> Please send you vote on this proposal: 
>> Do you support the changes in the voting rules of the IAU FWG, as
>> proposed by Lucio Chiappetti and do you recommend disbanding the WFC?
>> 
>> YES, NO, or ABSTAIN.
>> 
>> I intend to call the result one week from now, around 2013-11-26T19:00:00 (UTC).
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>>   - Arnold
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Arnold H. Rots                                          Chandra X-ray Science Center
>> Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory                   tel:  +1 617 496 7701
>> 60 Garden Street, MS 67                                      fax:  +1 617 495 7356
>> Cambridge, MA 02138                                         arots at cfa.harvard.edu
>> USA                                                   http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~arots/
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
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> 

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