D072 - Consensus is a substitute oracle within one generation

Status: decided Date: 2026-09-26

obscene-tool consensus compares reports from several implementations. A skip is no opinion; a check fewer than two implementations attempted is not compared. It names implementations and never counts them, reports OUTLIER (one against a unanimous rest) separately from SPLIT, and is run only over reports of the same generation. Where a hardware report exists, matrix treats it as the authority (D302).

Why: agreement is actionable where no console answers. Counting skips as opinions, mixing generations, or counting implementations that read each other each manufactures disagreement or agreement that is not there. Two implementations give a diff; three give a verdict.

Rejected: majority vote over every report - the first run named one loader the dissenter hundreds of times because it ran a different build.