Long-standing evidence has demonstrated otherwise. Go read the commit message I linked to: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/lin...

"Explicit guidelines have demonstrated success in other projects and other areas of the kernel."

Many people do not start out sharing a common understanding on this topic. This HN thread is more than enough evidence for that. Hence writing down a framework to give people that common understanding.