This document outlines the procedure that the Technical Review Board (TRB) follows when resolving disagreements of a technical nature. This document does not describe the whole of the TRB responsibilities and procedures. If at any time during the resolution of the conflict the two parties come to a mutual agreement the TRB arbitration process will end.
A technical dispute is brought to the TRB. This may happen at the request of a participant in a deadlocked dispute. It may also happen if it becomes clear to a member of the TRB or core that the disputing parties are not able to resolve the issue in a timely or professional manner.
The TRB will announce on arch@ that it is considering an issue. A request is made for all interested parties to submit one email stating their position on this issue to the trb@ mailing list. These emails are available to all committers via the trb archive.
The TRB makes requests of those who have submitted their opinions on the subject to clarify points. This discussion will continue on the trb@ list. If possible the TRB will steer the involved parties towards resolving the issue themselves.
A member of the TRB produces a brief document describing the core technical issues and a summary of the opinions of either side. If the involved parties can not come to a conclusion themselves the TRB will decide on a best plan of action based on the facts presented.
A vote is held on trb-private@. This is done privately to mitigate any impressions of bias either way from individual members of TRB. If a member of TRB has some non technical interest in the vote they are required to abstain from voting.
The results of the private vote are announced on arch@ and trb@. This will include a short statement detailing the position of the TRB on this issue and the number of votes for each option. The decision will be based on a majority vote. The results are considered final and all appeals must go through core@.
&footer;