I'd say that in this voting system a statment like that is not really important in any way. You'd have to compare it to sum of options that don't focus on systemd as an example or some other combinations.
* fixed proposal letter in the quote
The strength of the Condorcet method is precisely that adding a new option cannot make an existing option beat another existing option. That is, there is no vote splitting.
But Proposal F is very clearly NOT above them all. 207 people preferred B over F, while only 185 people preferred F over B.
If F were above them all, it would be the Condorcet winner and hence would have necessarily won according to the Schulze method, which it didn't.
B actually is the Condorcet winner, as it would beat every single other option in a one-to-one contest. (The fact that B is the winner according to the Schulze method doesn't necessarily imply that it is the Condorcet winner, as there might not be a Condorcet winner.)
F being the "most voted option" is a misleading and mostly vacuous statement. All that can be said is that more people preferred F to "further discussion" (303 vs. 110), than preferred any other option to "further discussion". In particular, only 299 vs. 111 preferred B to "further discussion". However that has no bearing whatsoever on whether people preferred F over B.
(My theory for why B didn't beat "further discussion" by quite such a large margin as F did, is that in the case of B both the only-systemd "extremists" and the anti-systemd "extremists" preferred "further discussion" to B, while in the case of F only the anti-systemd "extremists" preferred "further discussion" to F.)
Totally agree.
> Looking at the most voted option tells you what the majority thinks.
My point is that the options are designed specifically for this type of voting system.
Here it is possible that anti-systemd votes are spread across many options and pro systemd votes are concentrated in only one or two. So even if you have most votes on "Focus on systemd" it doesn't mean that it is what most people want.
As I said in my above reply which you've ignored, that is not how the voting system works. It is not possible to split votes like that in Condorcet. Everyone who opposes systemd can vote for all of the non-systemd options and not diminish the chances of any of them.
The ballot allows you to place all the options you support, in any order you prefer. Let's say I really oppose systemd and want it to lose. I could have voted:
Option 6
Option 3
Option 5
Option 4
Option 7
Option 8 (FD)
This would show on the majority vote as a vote for all of {63547}, and a vote against {12}. Vote splitting is not possible, even in the majority vote section.
Why? On this case, all it means is that the "we would like to keep other stuff viable" is divided in 5 options.
No it doesn't. (At least not with the definition of "most voted option" that was used by gioele.)
B would beat F in a one-to-one contest, so the majority thinks that "Systemd but we support exploring alternatives" is preferable to "Focus on systemd".