Thanks for the feedback! There’s obviously a discussion to be had here. I can see your concern for the guidelines getting unwieldy, but I don’t think it by itself is a reason not to have definite guidelines. If that were the only problem, I’m sure it could be solved (partially) by separating the important things from the specifics somehow.
This looks like a bigger issue to me. It isn’t something that occurred to me earlier, but I can see the problem, and of course it goes hand in hand with the other problem.
I’m not against @reosarevok’s aspirations for the guidelines, but it certainly isn’t the idea I have gotten of them during my years on MusicBrainz. If their purpose is already different from what I had thought, I would like for it to be clarified, especially if we are aiming to condense the guidelines to move closer to that intended purpose in the future. Right now, the style principle only says that they should be followed, but not to what extent and what to do when they don’t cover an issue.
I agree with @aerozol’s points about the advantages of examples.
Well, consider the misc info case I used as an example. It’s not such a minor issue, there appears to be some sort of consensus and I think it’s more confusing not to have a guideline in this case. The editor has let a discussion take place. When the discussion has settled I think it would be better if the community doesn’t remain the only point of reference for such a general issue. Thoughts on this?
For minor questions that you deem unfit for the guidelines, I think the community is an excellent place to store them for future searches. I will keep asking questions that could otherwise have been answered with my own best judgment, if you don’t mind!
I should add that I’m aware that an overhaul of the guidelines doesn’t lie in the immediate future 