And we really have no tie-breaker mechanism in the kernel - I know
Linus is very loathe to play that role. Negotiation, compromise, and
persistence are what is needed.
I suspect that to make progress you will have to start out by doing
something that you don't completely agree with. But that doesn't need
to be a loss. It will be both a learning experience and a credibility
earning exercise.
Maybe if you are really genuine about putting effort into this we
should see if something can be arranged to get you to the
kernel-summit so that you, Jon, and Dave can yell at each other for a
while and come to some understanding:-)