I appreciate the idea, and I think it has promise. Having just logged in and "patched" my statement to equal yours, though, I think that the process is still too complicated for a not-explicitly-techie audience. For instance, even I (a relatively savvy guy; for instance, a regular user of git and github) can't figure out how to vote for "my" own version. And besides the generally-easier interface, google docs has wysiwyg, and comments.<div>
<br></div><div>So, I'm really sorry, I know that there's a lot of work there, and if it worked out, the idea of putting diffs into emails is a good one... but I'm going to have to say, I still consider the<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oyJLxI9dciXBbowM5mougnbGHzkL3Ue1QkD8nnMwWLg/edit?hl=en_US"> Google Docs version</a> as the official one. I've put your suggested changes in there.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We can also copy from the google docs "view history" to paste diffs here. For instance, the first of your suggested changes:</div><div><br></div><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin: 0 0 0 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;">
<div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span id="internal-source-marker_0.6169936703518033" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The study of voting systems has made significant progress over the last decade</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(88, 180, 66); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">, and our understanding is even farther beyond what it was 20 years ago</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">. One important place where that has happened is on the election methods mailing list. </span></div>
</blockquote><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><br>
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I understand that that will not fully work for those with text-only email, and does not provide a url with patch buttons. So I still think that when you smooth out the interface, your system will be better than Google Docs in important ways. But...</span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><br>
</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Sorry,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Jameson</span></div>
<div><br><div class="gmail_quote">2011/8/17 Michael Allan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mike@zelea.com">mike@zelea.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Jameson Quinn wrote:<br>
> I've made this draft statement into a google doc ... Probably we<br>
> should continue to discuss here for a while longer, but feel free to<br>
> also make suggested changes over there...<br>
<br>
I want to suggest an alternative method of drafting, one that might<br>
integrate better with the discussion. Here's a brief demo:<br>
<br>
<a href="mailto:fsimmons@pcc.edu">fsimmons@pcc.edu</a> wrote:<br>
> Put Approval Voting here in alphabetical order...<br>
><br>
> > - Various *Bucklin* or median-based systems such as *Majority<br>
> > Judgment* - Various *Condorcet* systems, including<br>
> > *Condorcet//Approval, various<br>
> > Condorcet//IRV hybrids, Ranked Pairs, *and* Schulze*.<br>
> > - *Range Voting* (aka Score Voting)<br>
> > - *SODA voting*<br>
<br>
I agree with Forest and I made the recommended change. What do you<br>
think Jameson?<br>
<br>
<a href="http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=4637&b=4627#_3.1" target="_blank">http://zelea.com:8080/v/w/D?a=4637&b=4627#_3.1</a><br>
<br>
[demo off] Here I propose several modifications to Jameson's draft.<br>
These take the form of a composite "text diff" that shows the<br>
differences between his draft and mine, including the particular one I<br>
refer to (3.1). This method is based on multiple drafts, one per<br>
drafter. Some of the advantages:<br>
<br>
* Embedding a difference URL in the mailing list helps to focus the<br>
discussion. At every step the issue boils down to differences of<br>
text, so it can only help to make those differences concrete.<br>
<br>
* The discussion remains rooted in the mailing list. It need not be<br>
transplanted to another medium, such as Google Docs or wiki talk<br>
pages.<br>
<br>
* If the discussion leads to agreement, or if the difference happens<br>
to be trivial, then it can be eliminated by pressing the "Patch"<br>
button. This is pretty easy to do (and kind of fun).<br>
<br>
* Or, if agreement fails, then the difference remains standing. It<br>
never gets swept aside by the process or buried in the archives,<br>
but remains as a qualification of any consensus that emerges.<br>
<br>
The software isn't beta ready yet, so I doubt anyone will jump in and<br>
start using it full time. But I do hope a few intelligent people will<br>
play with it and get some ideas. Here's how to use it:<br>
<br>
1. Visit one of the drafts, such as:<br>
<a href="http://zelea.com/w/User:Jameson.quinn-GmailCom/G/p/vrs" target="_blank">http://zelea.com/w/User:Jameson.quinn-GmailCom/G/p/vrs</a><br>
<br>
2. Click on "My position".<br>
<br>
That gives you a draft of your own. Login under an alias if you<br>
prefer. It requires no account.<br>
<br>
3. Go to anybody's draft and click "Diff vs. mine".<br>
<br>
That gives you the full diff. Use the Patch button to get an<br>
initial text.<br>
<br>
4. Edit the text, do another diff and post the URL for discussion.<br>
<br>
I had hoped to set this up in the Electorama wiki, but its API isn't<br>
functioning. I left some edits there, and will clean up later.<br>
<br>
Please let me know if you encounter any problems, or have questions.<br>
Overall, doesn't this approach make sense?<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Michael Allan<br>
<br>
Toronto, +1 416-699-9528<br>
<a href="http://zelea.com/" target="_blank">http://zelea.com/</a><br>
----<br>
Election-Methods mailing list - see <a href="http://electorama.com/em" target="_blank">http://electorama.com/em</a> for list info<br>
</font></blockquote></div><br></div>