PHP RFC: Require 2/3 Votes

• Version: 1.0
• Date: 2014-11-19
• Author: Levi Morrison levim@php.net
• Status: Draft
• First Published at: http://wiki.php.net/rfc/change_required_votes_to_two_thirds

This RFC proposes that the rule for the required percentage of votes than an RFC needs to pass be simplified to always require 2/3 in favor of the RFC. I request that RFCs which currently can request 1/2 + 1 votes do not enter the voting stage until this is decided, on the grounds that if the requirements for what an RFC needs to pass are under debate then no affected RFCs should proceed to that stage.

Motivations for requiring 2/3 of the votes or more for an RFC to pass:

• Almost every time someone proposes an RFC and claims 1/2 + 1 there is a discussion about whether or not the RFC is allowed to get away with 1/2 + 1 instead of 2/3. Making all RFCs require the same percentage will cut down on noise on the list.
• Requiring 2/3 for all RFCs means that RFC authors need to work harder to make the RFCs appeal to more people; this theoretically would mean that more effort goes into the RFC and the end result for all users is better.
• Making changes are harder to undo than they are to do. This means that any feature we add or change will be there for a long time. If we can't get 2/3 of voters to agree that something is done right then it should not go into PHP core.

The biggest concern about changing everything to 2/3 vote is that it will be more difficult for RFCs to pass. We have enough historical data at this point that we can see how true that concern has been. I will investigate voting data to see how many RFCs passed with 1/2 + 1 vote that would not have passed if it required 2/3 and report back later today or tomorrow at the latest.

This RFC will have a simple yes or no vote on whether to always require 2/3 of the votes for an RFC to pass. In the spirit of this RFC, it will require 2/3 of votes to pass.