[mb-style] RFV: StylePrinciple

[Chris B]

On 15/02/2008, Brian Schweitzer <brian.brianschweitzer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >  well, StrongGuidelines, ConsistentOriginalData or ArtistIntent remain
>  >  quite vague.
>  >
>  >  i'm happy with the pricinple, but it's not a 'guideline' as such. i'm
>  >  happy with the current link on
>  >  http://wiki.musicbrainz.org/OfficialStyleGuideline
>
>
> I'm not sure I follow what you mean (or which link)...
>
>  ArtistIntent is, I think, intentionally vague.

right, so indeed one can take it cover mean anything and nothing.
that's what i mean - i can rarely use that in an edit note, i have to
justify WHY i think artistintent beats the guidelines in a given
situation. that's fine by me - that's why it's not a 'guideline' but
rather an idea.

>  The two StrongGuidelines (AbbreviationStyle and SeriesNumberStyle)
>  are, as far as I can see, very specific.

yes, but it was supposed to extend to all guidelines but that hasn't
been the case. eg, DiscNumberStyle would probably be a 'strong
guideline', all things being equal. for better or worse, people have
given up with this one. again this is more of an idea rather than a
guideline - you have to justify it if you use it in an edit note
discussion.

>  ConsistentOriginalData is likewise non-vague - the one question there,
>  at least following StylePrinciple, would be answered by ArtistIntent,
>  in that ArtistIntent would supercede ConsistantOriginalData, should
>  ArtistIntent be determined to be present.

see above...

>  OfficialStyleGuideline is great, but currently, it's StylePrinciple
>  which actually lays out the order of precedence between ArtistIntent,
>  ConsistentOriginalData, StrongGuideline, and ConsistentOriginalData,
>  in that, say, ArtistIntent is superior to any OfficialStyleGuideline.
>
>  Hence why I say, it's an order of precedence and principles we all
>  take for granted anyhow; I'm just looking to (finally) take off the
>  "This is yet a ProposedStyleGuideline, although IMO it reflects a long
>  existent consensus" that's been on that page at least since it was
>  migrated from the old wiki on 2005-07-23, and mark this an official
>  guideline.  Each of the 4 principles it describes already is an
>  official philosophy/guideline, it's just the document which puts them
>  into relationship between each other which is not.

but it's *not* a styleguideline - it's a 'thing' to say when we defer
to to the guidelines. putting it in the styleguidelines creates a
recursive loop which as a programmer, makes my head hurt :)

remove that phrase but don't add it to the styleguidelines category.
maybe category philosphy?