This is in such a thick academic style that it is difficult to follow what the problem actually might be and how it would impact someone. This style of writing serves mostly to remind me that I am not a part of the world that writes like this, which makes me a little sad.
In the beginning, when you read papers like this, it can be hard work. You can either give up or put some effort in to try to understand it. Maybe look at some of the other Jepsen reports, some may be easier. Or perhaps an introductory CS textbook. With practice and patience it will become easier to read and eventually write like this.
You may not be part of that world now, but you can be some day.
EDIT: forgot to say, i had to read 6 or 7 books on Bayesian statistics before i understood the most basic concepts. A few years later i wrote a compiler for a statistical programming language.