Re: [boost] Draft copy - Call for Submissions - CMake for Boost

Subject: Re: [boost] Draft copy - Call for Submissions - CMake for Boost
From: Steven Watanabe (watanabesj_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-10-18 21:43:29

AMDG

On 10/18/2018 02:43 PM, Robert Ramey via Boost wrote:
> 
> c) The name of the author of a submission will not be included in the
> submission.  Authors will be expected to take reasonable efforts to
> maintain his anonymity via a github repo without a real name assigned,
> anonymous, email address etc.  We understand that the nature of the
> submission and debate during subsequent review of the proposals.  Never
> the less we believe that anonymity can be mostly maintained. The the
> true identity of the author of the selected proposal will not be
> revealed until the selection is made.
> 

  I don't see how this makes sense.  For the most part,
the code itself will be sufficient to identify the
author (at least for those of us who have been
following the discussions of CMake for a while).
If the code weren't enough, the authors would give
away their identities in the discussion
- Either they use their real names in the discussion and
  we can spot who is defending their own decisions or,
- They use anonymized names which we can match with their
  real names by their (well-known) idiosyncrasies.
(Of course, I'm assuming that the submissions are mostly
coming from the usual suspects.  Otherwise, we won't
know who they are anyway, so making it anonymous is
pointless.)

> The motivation for this anonymity is to attract submitters who find the
> boost review process distressing, annoying and/or unpleasant.

This seems like a bad idea, given that we would
expect more than a hit-and-run from the submitter.

> It should
> also address the concerns of those who beleive that by not being a
> "boost insider" they won't get fair consideration.  Boost is first and
> foremost a meritocracy.  We seek the very best in everything regardless
> of other considerations.
> 
In Christ,
Steven Watanabe