One document matched: draft-carpenter-rfc2026-critique-00.txt
Network Working Group B. Carpenter
Internet-Draft IBM
Expires: August 28, 2006 February 24, 2006
A Personal critique of RFC 2026
draft-carpenter-rfc2026-critique-00
Status of this Memo
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This Internet-Draft will expire on August 28, 2006.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
Abstract
This document is a personal critique of RFC 2026, the current
description of the IETF standards process, based on the author's
experience in various IETF roles.
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Table of Contents
1. Disclaimer and Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Detailed Critique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6. Change log [RFC Editor: please remove this section] . . . . . 22
7. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 25
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1. Disclaimer and Introduction
BCP 9 [RFC2026] has been the basis for the IETF standards process for
many years. This is a personal critique, but written with the
perspective of an RFC author, former WG chair and IAB member, and
current IESG member. Of course, the focus is on the negative - but
it should be remembered that RFC 2026 has served the IETF well for
approximately ten years and the majority of it works well and needs
no change.
Readers are asked to excuse the personal style of this initial draft.
Future versions will use more neutral language.
Extracts from RFC 2026 are presented verbatim in quotation marks,
preceded and followed by the following markers:
"+++++++++
---------"
Original pagination and administrative material have been removed, as
has text where the author has no particular comments to make.
This document attempts to avoid "solutionism", i.e. it is focussed on
identifying practical problems. However, in many cases the way a
problem is described may well be suggestive of a solution. In one
area (the 3 step standards process) assumptions about the solution
are hard to avoid.
2. Detailed Critique
"+++++++++
" Abstract "
" This memo documents the process used by the Internet community for
the standardization of protocols and procedures. It defines the
stages in the standardization process, the requirements for moving a
document between stages and the types of documents used during this
process. It also addresses the intellectual property rights and
copyright issues associated with the standards process. "
---------"
The last sentence will become obsolete (see comment on Section 10).
"+++++++++
" 1.1 Internet Standards "
" The Internet, a loosely-organized international collaboration of
autonomous, interconnected networks, supports host-to-host
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communication through voluntary adherence to open protocols and
procedures defined by Internet Standards. There are also many
isolated interconnected networks, which are not connected to the
global Internet but use the Internet Standards. "
---------"
"Host-to-host" is strictly accurate, but today we tend to emphasise
the need for "end-to-end" communication.
"+++++++++
" The Internet Standards Process described in this document is
concerned with all protocols, procedures, and conventions that are
used in or by the Internet, whether or not they are part of the
TCP/IP protocol suite. In the case of protocols developed and/or
standardized by non-Internet organizations, however, the Internet
Standards Process normally applies to the application of the protocol
or procedure in the Internet context, not to the specification of the
protocol itself. "
---------"
In view of our experience with the temporary Sub-IP Area, and current
experience with L2VPN, L3VPN, PWE3 and of course MPLS, it seems
likely that this paragraph needs some rewriting. Emulation of
transmission mechanisms over IP, the IETF's involvement in
multiprotocol switching through MPLS, and the general layer confusion
induced by VPNs means that things are not as easily delimited as the
above paragaph suggests.
"+++++++++
" 1.2 The Internet Standards Process "
" ...o These procedures are explicitly aimed at recognizing and
adopting generally-accepted practices. Thus, a candidate
specification must be implemented and tested for correct operation
and interoperability by multiple independent parties and utilized in
increasingly demanding environments, before it can be adopted as an
Internet Standard. "
---------"
This is an important statement of principle. In fact, if some of the
more radical proposals for simplifying the standards track were
adopted, it is unclear whether this principle could honestly be left
in place. (The antithesis is of course a priori standardization, in
which a specification is declared a standard without demonstrated
interoperability.)
"+++++++++
" o These procedures provide a great deal of flexibility to adapt to
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the wide variety of circumstances that occur in the standardization
process. Experience has shown this flexibility to be vital in
achieving the goals listed above. "
" The goal of technical competence, the requirement for prior
implementation and testing, and the need to allow all interested
parties to comment all require significant time and effort. On the
other hand, today's rapid development of networking technology
demands timely development of standards. The Internet Standards
Process is intended to balance these conflicting goals. The process
is believed to be as short and simple as possible without sacrificing
technical excellence, thorough testing before adoption of a standard,
or openness and fairness. "
---------"
One of the main criticisms of recent years has been that this goal
has not been met. But it's unclear that this is is truly a matter of
process failure rather than procedural failure. We should look for
the solution in the right place.
"+++++++++
" 2.1 Requests for Comments (RFCs) "
" Each distinct version of an Internet standards-related
specification is published as part of the "Request for Comments"
(RFC) document series. This archival series is the official
publication channel for Internet standards documents and other
publications of the IESG, IAB, and Internet community. RFCs can be
obtained from a number of Internet hosts using anonymous FTP, gopher,
World Wide Web, and other Internet document-retrieval systems. "
---------"
Probably we can drop the reference to gopher.
"+++++++++
" The RFC series of documents on networking began in 1969 as part of
the original ARPA wide-area networking (ARPANET) project (see
Appendix A for glossary of acronyms). RFCs cover a wide range of
topics in addition to Internet Standards, from early discussion of
new research concepts to status memos about the Internet. RFC
publication is the direct responsibility of the RFC Editor, under the
general direction of the IAB. "
---------"
and the administrative management of the IASA [RFC4071].
"+++++++++
" The rules for formatting and submitting an RFC are defined in [5].
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"
---------"
Note that draft-rfc-editor-rfc2223bis-08.txt is applied today. It
would probably be better to externalize this reference since it's in
flux and likely to continue so.
"+++++++++
" Every RFC is available in ASCII text. Some RFCs are also available
in other formats. The other versions of an RFC may contain material
(such as diagrams and figures) that is not present in the ASCII
version, and it may be formatted differently. "
---------"
It seems we have forgotten this in practice. It seems like a good
idea.
"+++++++++
" A stricter requirement applies to standards-track specifications:
the ASCII text version is the definitive reference, and therefore it
must be a complete and accurate specification of the standard,
including all necessary diagrams and illustrations. "
---------"
There are certainly people in the IETF who want to change this, to
allow normative reference to graphics and mathematics that are not
expressed in ASCII. We have to grasp this nettle and consider
whether this is to be allowed and in that case what format
(presumably some flavour of PDF) is allowed.
"+++++++++
" The status of Internet protocol and service specifications is
summarized periodically in an RFC entitled "Internet Official
Protocol Standards" [1]. This RFC shows the level of maturity and
other helpful information for each Internet protocol or service
specification (see section 3). "
---------"
I believe this has outlived its usefulness and that an on-line
hyperlinked index should be enough.
"+++++++++
" Some RFCs document Internet Standards. These RFCs form the 'STD'
subseries of the RFC series [4]. When a specification has been
adopted as an Internet Standard, it is given the additional label
"STDxxx", but it keeps its RFC number and its place in the RFC
series. (see section 4.1.3) "
---------"
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I believe that the fact the full Standards receive the STD
designation, and that PS and DS documents do not, is a major source
of confusion to users of the standards.
"+++++++++
" Some RFCs standardize the results of community deliberations about
statements of principle or conclusions about what is the best way to
perform some operations or IETF process function. These RFCs form
the specification has been adopted as a BCP, it is given the
additional label "BCPxxx", but it keeps its RFC number and its place
in the RFC series. (see section 5) "
" Not all specifications of protocols or services for the Internet
should or will become Internet Standards or BCPs. Such non-standards
track specifications are not subject to the rules for Internet
standardization. Non-standards track specifications may be published
directly as "Experimental" or "Informational" RFCs at the discretion
of the RFC Editor in consultation with the IESG (see section 4.2). "
---------"
Factually, the RFC Editor does not have such discretion for IETF
documents - it's the IESG approval that defines the status of an IETF
RFC. IETF Experimental or Informational RFCs are distinct from
direct submissions to the RFC Editor, which are processed under
[RFC3932].
"+++++++++
" 2.2 Internet-Drafts "
" During the development of a specification, draft versions of the
document are made available for informal review and comment by
placing them in the IETF's "Internet-Drafts" directory, which is
replicated on a number of Internet hosts. This makes an evolving
working document readily available to a wide audience, facilitating
the process of review and revision. "
" An Internet-Draft that is published as an RFC, or that has remained
unchanged in the Internet-Drafts directory for more than six months
without being recommended by the IESG for publication as an RFC, is "
---------"
Not quite true. Expiry is inhibited when a draft enters IESG
consideration, not when it is approved.
"+++++++++
" simply removed from the Internet-Drafts directory. "
---------"
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We can't duck the question of the status of expired drafts. While
some aspects of that may belong to the ipr WG, there are some points
to discuss:
a) expired drafts are retained in the IETF archive for legal reasons
b) we need to consider whether we want to contribute the I-D archive
to national patent offices and/or WIPO as part of their prior art
databases
c) we need to consider whether we wish the expired drafts to be
officially visible on the IETF site, given that we know they are
unofficially visible in many places
d) we need to note that authors may require expired drafts to be
removed from visibility (in some countries, this is a legal right)
"+++++++++
" At any time, an Internet-Draft may be replaced by a more recent
version of the same specification, restarting the six-month timeout
period. "
" An Internet-Draft is NOT a means of "publishing" a specification;
specifications are published through the RFC mechanism described in
the previous section. Internet-Drafts have no formal status, and are
subject to change or removal at any time. "
---------"
Note that this precludes using Internet-Drafts as any form of Stable
Snapshot. If we want Stable Snapshots, we'll have to modify this
text and the following box.
"+++++++++
" 3.1 Technical Specification (TS) "
" A Technical Specification is any description of a protocol,
service, procedure, convention, or format. "
---------"
It seems clear that this does not limit a TS to defining a wire
protocol - it doesn't exclude APIs, for example (an API is clearly a
convention). And of course it includes data definitions such as MIBs
(a MIB is clearly a format). It doesn't exclude a standard that only
defines an IANA registry (a registry is also a format). Yet all of
these things have led to debate in the IETF - this year I've seen
debate about whether a document that only defines a registry can
become a Proposed Standard. I think we need to be more explicit.
"+++++++++
" ... A TS shall include a statement of its scope and the general
intent for its use (domain of applicability). Thus, a TS that is
inherently specific to a particular context shall contain a statement
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to that effect. However, a TS does not specify requirements for its
use within the Internet; these requirements, which depend on the
particular context in which the TS is incorporated by different
system configurations, are defined by an Applicability Statement. "
---------"
The last sentence is unclear. Is it saying that a TS doesn't contain
operational guidelines? There are two issues there.
(1) If that's what it means, I think it should be said more clearly.
(2) Quite often, the Operations Area comments on a draft TS are,
well, asking for operational guidelines. If a TS refers to a foobar
timeout, Operations people will insist on specifying a default value
and guidance about when to change the default. But the above
sentence would suggest that this belongs in a separate AS.
"+++++++++
" 3.2 Applicability Statement (AS) "
" An Applicability Statement specifies how, and under what
circumstances, one or more TSs may be applied to support a particular
Internet capability. An AS may specify uses for TSs that are not
Internet Standards, as discussed in Section 7. "
" An AS identifies the relevant TSs and the specific way in which
they are to be combined, and may also specify particular values or
ranges of TS parameters or subfunctions of a TS protocol that must be
implemented. An AS also specifies the circumstances in which the use
of a particular TS is required, recommended, or elective (see section
3.3). "
" An AS may describe particular methods of using a TS in a restricted
"domain of applicability", such as Internet routers, terminal
servers, Internet systems that interface to Ethernets, or datagram-
based database servers. "
---------"
I'm concerned that the community really doesn't have the habit of
writing this sort of AS; it's rare in fact, and very rare in WG
charters. On the other, applicability sections embedded in a TS are
fairly common. I think it would be more realistic to recognize that
and to document separate ASes as the exception case.
"+++++++++
" The broadest type of AS is a comprehensive conformance
specification, "
---------"
I'm not sure the community really believes we are in the business of
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writing conformance specs, so I would change the choice of words.
"+++++++++
" commonly called a "requirements document", for a particular class
of Internet systems, such as Internet routers or Internet hosts. "
---------"
Today, we use the word "requirements" much more broadly, often as a
front-end document when a WG is starting out.
"+++++++++
" An AS may not have a higher maturity level in the standards track
than any standards-track TS on which the AS relies (see section 4.1).
For example, a TS at Draft Standard level may be referenced by an AS
at the Proposed Standard or Draft Standard level, but not by an AS at
the Standard level. "
---------"
I think this paragraph should be moved to a general section on
normative reference requirements; there is nothing specific to ASes
in this rule. See comment below on 4.2.4.
"+++++++++
" 3.3 Requirement Levels "
---------"
This section assumes a sophistication in ASes that is very rare. I
think it would be better to make this a general section on
requirement levels, not specific to AS. Maybe it should actually
replace RFC 2119, but probably not since that is such a popular
citation - but it should provide the basis on which the RFC 2119
keywords build.
"+++++++++
""
"... (c) Elective: Implementation of the referenced TS is optional
within the domain of applicability of the AS; that is, the AS creates
no explicit necessity to apply the TS. However, a particular vendor
may decide to implement it, or a particular user may decide that it
is a necessity in a specific environment. For example, the DECNET
MIB could be seen as valuable in an environment where the DECNET
protocol is used. "
---------"
Might want to update the example...
"+++++++++
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""
"... (e) Not Recommended: A TS that is considered to be inappropriate
for general use is labeled "Not Recommended". This may be because of
its limited functionality, specialized nature, or historic status. "
" Although TSs and ASs are conceptually separate, in practice a
standards-track document may combine an AS and one or more related
TSs. "
---------"
Exactly. It would be much clearer to the reader if this was said at
the beginning of this section.
"+++++++++
""
"... The "Official Protocol Standards" RFC (STD1) lists a general
requirement level for each TS, using the nomenclature defined in this
section. This RFC is updated periodically. In many cases, more
detailed descriptions of the requirement levels of particular
protocols and of individual features of the protocols will be found
in appropriate ASs. "
---------"
STD1 seems to be the wrong way to do this today. I'd suggest
slightly more general language, e.g. The RFC archive lists..., and
leave it as an operational matter how it's actually done.
"+++++++++
" 4. THE INTERNET STANDARDS TRACK "
---------"
For the following comments to make sense I need to take a position on
the three stage standards track. I'm going to say: since there's no
consensus to change it, let's keep it, but adjust the rules to make
it workable. My personal preference is to adjust to a two stage
track, which would simplify things further.
"+++++++++
" 4.1.1 Proposed Standard "
"... The IESG may require implementation and/or operational
experience prior to granting Proposed Standard status to a
specification that materially affects the core Internet protocols or
that specifies behavior that may have significant operational impact
on the Internet. "
---------"
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Specifically, refer to [RFC1264] and
draft-fenner-zinin-rtg-standard-reqts.
"+++++++++
""
"... Implementors should treat Proposed Standards as immature
specifications. It is desirable to implement them in order to gain
experience and to validate, test, and clarify the specification.
However, since the content of Proposed Standards may be changed if
problems are found or better solutions are identified, deploying
implementations of such standards into a disruption-sensitive
environment is not recommended. "
---------"
But when did that ever stop anybody? I think we might need to modify
this language to better reflect reality,without removing the warning.
Also, as the MIB doctors have observed, some types of spec may
benefit from staying at this level. So I think we need to state
things differently, indicating that
1. PS is the preliminary level. (Renaming it Preliminary Standard
might set expectations appropriately.)
2. Implementors should be aware that a PS may be revised or even
withdrawn.
3. It is nevertheless common to use PS implementations
operationally.
4. Certain types of specification are likely to be recycled at PS as
they evolve rather than being promoted.
"+++++++++
" 4.1.2 Draft Standard "
---------"
Just as "proposed" standard is effectively interpreted as
"preliminary", "draft standard" is effectively interpreted as
"definitive". Also we have the problem of confusion with "Internet
draft." So here too, a name change might help. In a two stage
standards track, the solution the author prefers personally, this
stage could be called "interoperable standard".
"+++++++++
" A specification from which at least two independent and
interoperable implementations from different code bases have been
developed, and for which sufficient successful operational experience
has been obtained, may be elevated to the "Draft Standard" level.
For the purposes of this section, "interoperable" means to be
functionally equivalent or interchangeable components of the system
or process in which they are used. If patented or otherwise
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controlled technology is required for implementation, the separate
implementations must also have resulted from separate exercise of the
licensing process. Elevation to Draft Standard is a major advance in
status, indicating a strong belief that the specification is mature
and will be useful. "
" The requirement for at least two independent and interoperable
implementations applies to all of the options and features of the
specification. "
---------"
At least two significant problems arise repeatedly in interpreting
this.
1. Is it acceptable if features A and B are shown to be
interoperable between implementations X and Y, and features C and D
are shown to be interoperable between implentations P and Q? In that
case we have shown interoperability of features A, B, C and D but
have not shown that any implementation successfully interoperates
with all of them.
2. Is it acceptable if both implementations X and Y show
interoperability with implementation Q, but the implementor of Q is
not party to the tests and does not make any statements about
features supported? In other words Q has merely served as an active
mirror in the tests.
"+++++++++
" In cases in which one or more options or features have not been
demonstrated in at least two interoperable implementations, the
specification may advance to the Draft Standard level only if those
options or features are removed. "
" The Working Group chair is responsible for documenting the specific
implementations which qualify the specification for Draft or Internet
Standard status along with documentation about testing of the
interoperation of these implementations. The documentation must
include information about the support of each of the individual
options and features. This documentation should be submitted to the
Area Director with the protocol action request. (see Section 6) "
---------"
It's a fact of experience that we need to specify the minimum
acceptable contents of an interoperability report in considerably
more detail than this. If you look at the database of reports
collected over the years, the quality is highly variable and some are
very sparse and uninformative.
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"+++++++++
" 4.1.3 Internet Standard "
"... A specification that reaches the status of Standard is assigned
a number in the STD series while retaining its RFC number. "
---------"
There is normally an acronym associated with an STD designation. One
procedural change that would reduce user confusion would be for the
IESG to assign a new or existing acronym as part of the initial
standards action (thus RFC 2821 would have been assigned to SMTP by
the IESG) instead of leaving this to the RFC Editor. It's also a
matter for debate with the STD number should be assigned at PS stage
for simpler tracking - thus RFC 2821 could also be known as PS10.
"+++++++++
" 4.2.1 Experimental "
" The "Experimental" designation typically denotes a specification
that is part of some research or development effort. Such a
specification is published for the general information of the
Internet technical community and as an archival record of the work,
subject only to editorial considerations and to verification that
there has been adequate coordination with the standards process (see
below). An Experimental specification may be the output of an
organized Internet research effort (e.g., a Research Group of the
IRTF), an IETF Working Group, or it may be an individual
contribution. "
---------"
The IESG is concerned about the scope of "experiments" on the
Internet and the lack of clear guidelines as to which experiments we
should document in the IETF and to what extent we should be concerned
about operational consequences. In fact, we've asked the community
for discussion on this point. It's also worth looking at
http://www.ietf.org/u/ietfchair/draft-iesg-info-exp-01.html before
rewriting this paragraph.
"+++++++++
" 4.2.2 Informational "
" An "Informational" specification is published for the general
information of the Internet community, and does not represent an
Internet community consensus or recommendation. The Informational
designation is intended to provide for the timely publication of a
very broad range of responsible informational documents from many
sources, subject only to editorial considerations and to verification
that there has been adequate coordination with the standards process
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(see section 4.2.3). "
---------"
In practice, some Informationals and Experimentals that are published
via IESG Approval are very close to being a TS and are evaluated
almost as carefully as a TS. Others are more general.
"+++++++++
" Specifications that have been prepared outside of the Internet
community and are not incorporated into the Internet Standards
Process by any of the provisions of section 10 may be published as
Informational RFCs, with the permission of the owner and the
concurrence of the RFC Editor. "
---------"
We need to be much more precise here. First of all I think it means
"outside of the IETF process" not "outside of the Internet
community." Secondly as part of this year's RFC Editor RFP process,
we have to get clarity about the independent submissions track.
Since it's outside the standards process, it probably doesn't belong
in this document. Probably we should say less, not more. However,
fwiw I have inserted comments in the following section.
"+++++++++
" 4.2.3 Procedures for Experimental and Informational RFCs "
" Unless they are the result of IETF Working Group action, documents
intended to be published with Experimental or Informational status
should be submitted directly to the RFC Editor. "
---------"
That's not what happens. Most of them come via an AD through the
IESG because they are (for example) related to a recently closed WG
etc. That case needs to be described first here; as just noted, the
independent submissions track is separate from the IETF process.
"+++++++++
" The RFC Editor will publish any such documents as Internet-Drafts
which have not already been so published. "
---------"
I believe that is inaccurate, i.e. they ask the authors to do so.
"+++++++++
" In order to differentiate these Internet-Drafts they will be
labeled or grouped in the I-D directory so they are easily
recognizable. "
---------"
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Not true.
"+++++++++
" The RFC Editor will wait two weeks after this publication for
comments before proceeding further. The RFC Editor is expected to
exercise his or her judgment concerning the editorial suitability of
a document for publication with Experimental or Informational status,
and may refuse to publish a document which, in the expert opinion of
the RFC Editor, is unrelated to Internet activity or falls below the
technical and/or editorial standard for RFCs. "
---------"
Doesn't take account of the editorial board.
"+++++++++
" To ensure that the non-standards track Experimental and
Informational designations are not misused to circumvent the Internet
Standards Process, the IESG and the RFC Editor have agreed that the
RFC Editor will refer to the IESG any document submitted for
Experimental or Informational publication which, in the opinion of
the RFC Editor, may be related to work being done, or expected to be
done, within the IETF community. The IESG shall review such a
referred document within a reasonable period of time, and recommend
either that it be published as originally submitted or referred to
the IETF as a contribution to the Internet Standards Process. "
---------"
Doesn't take account of [RFC3932].
"+++++++++
""
"... Documents proposed for Experimental and Informational RFCs by
IETF Working Groups go through IESG review. The review is initiated
using the process described in section 6.1.1. "
---------"
Should have been said up front of this section.
"+++++++++
" 4.2.4 Historic "
" A specification that has been superseded by a more recent
specification or is for any other reason considered to be obsolete is
assigned to the "Historic" level. (Purists have suggested that the
word should be "Historical"; however, at this point the use of
"Historic" is historical.) "
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" Note: Standards track specifications normally must not depend on
other standards track specifications which are at a lower maturity
level or on non standards track specifications other than referenced
specifications from other standards bodies. (See Section 7.) "
---------"
This seems out of place here - I'd move it to the same place as the
last paragraph of section 3.2, i.e. a new section. However, this
whole question and the variance procedure of [RFC3967] is a constant
cause of publication delays that are essentially bureaucratic. I'd
be strongly in favour of a new policy that simply says:
Documents on the standards track, or BCPs, may refer normatively to
any document on the standards track or to any BCP.
"+++++++++
" 5. BEST CURRENT PRACTICE (BCP) RFCs "
" The BCP subseries of the RFC series is designed to be a way to
standardize practices and the results of community deliberations. A
BCP document is subject to the same basic set of procedures as
standards track documents and thus is a vehicle by which the IETF
community can define and ratify the community's best current thinking
on a statement of principle or on what is believed to be the best way
to perform some operations or IETF process function. "
" Historically Internet standards have generally been concerned with
the technical specifications for hardware and software required for
computer communication across interconnected networks. However,
since the Internet itself is composed of networks operated by a great
variety of organizations, with diverse goals and rules, good user
service requires that the operators and administrators of the
Internet follow some common guidelines for policies and operations.
While these guidelines are generally different in scope and style
from protocol standards, their establishment needs a similar process
for consensus building. "
---------"
We should say something about the fact that it is sometimes unclear
whether a given document should be standards track, BCP or
informational and a few lines about the criteria (and that in the
end, it may not really matter).
"+++++++++
" While it is recognized that entities such as the IAB and IESG are
composed of individuals who may participate, as individuals, in the
technical work of the IETF, it is also recognized that the entities
themselves have an existence as leaders in the community. As leaders
in the Internet technical community, these entities should have an
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outlet to propose ideas to stimulate work in a particular area, to
raise the community's sensitivity to a certain issue, to make a
statement of architectural principle, or to communicate their
thoughts on other matters. The BCP subseries creates a smoothly
structured way for these management entities to insert proposals into
the consensus-building machinery of the IETF while gauging the
community's view of that issue. "
---------"
This paragraph is rather strange. Although it's not unknown for a
BCP to have its origin in the IETF or IAB, does it really deserve a
paragraph and why is the language so tentative?
"+++++++++
" 6.1.1 Initiation of Action "
" A specification that is intended to enter or advance in the
Internet standards track shall first be posted as an Internet-Draft
(see section 2.2) unless it has not changed since publication as an
RFC. It shall remain as an Internet-Draft for a period of time, not
less than two weeks, that permits useful community review, after
which a recommendation for action may be initiated. "
" A standards action is initiated by a recommendation by the IETF
Working group responsible for a specification to its Area Director,
copied to the IETF Secretariat or, in the case of a specification not
associated with a Working Group, a recommendation by an individual to
the IESG. "
---------"
In practice, individual submissions are recommended to and shepherded
by an AD, who brings them to the IESG just like a WG document.
"+++++++++
" 6.1.3 Publication "
" If a standards action is approved, notification is sent to the RFC
Editor and copied to the IETF with instructions to publish the
specification as an RFC. The specification shall at that point be
removed from the Internet-Drafts directory. "
---------"
"At that point" should be clarified to be the point of publication of
the RFC.
"+++++++++
" An official summary of standards actions completed and pending
shall appear in each issue of the Internet Society's newsletter.
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This shall constitute the "publication of record" for Internet
standards actions. "
---------"
Why is this necessary?
"+++++++++
" The RFC Editor shall publish periodically an "Internet Official
Protocol Standards" RFC [1], summarizing the status of all Internet
protocol and service specifications. "
---------"
As suggested above, this seems less appropriate than simply
maintaining the appropriate hypertext indexes.
"+++++++++
" 6.2 Advancing in the Standards Track "
"... Change of status shall result in republication of the
specification as an RFC, except in the rare case that there have been
no changes at all in the specification since the last publication.
Generally, desired changes will be "batched" for incorporation at the
next level in the standards track. However, deferral of changes to
the next standards action on the specification will not always be
possible or desirable; for example, an important typographical error,
or a technical error that does not represent a change in overall
function of the specification, may need to be corrected immediately.
In such cases, the IESG or RFC Editor may be asked to republish the
RFC (with a new number) with corrections, and this will not reset the
minimum time-at-level clock. "
---------"
Should mention the RFC Errata mechanism here.
"+++++++++
" When a standards-track specification has not reached the Internet
Standard level but has remained at the same maturity level for
twenty-four (24) months, and every twelve (12) months thereafter
until the status is changed, the IESG shall review the viability of
the standardization effort responsible for that specification and the
usefulness of the technology. Following each such review, the IESG
shall approve termination or continuation of the development effort,
at the same time the IESG shall decide to maintain the specification
at the same maturity level or to move it to Historic status. This
decision shall be communicated to the IETF by electronic mail to the
IETF Announce mailing list to allow the Internet community an
opportunity to comment. This provision is not intended to threaten a
legitimate and active Working Group effort, but rather to provide an
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administrative mechanism for terminating a moribund effort. "
---------"
This is notoriously bogus as no IESG has ever had the cycles to do
it. It would be much better to replace it with a statement that the
IESG may be asked to advance any standard that has been long enough
in grade (or to deprecate any standard or BCP) by the relevant WG if
it exists, or by an individual participant if not. And the issue of
terminating moribund WGs should be left to RFC 2418(bis).
An open question here is whether we should encourage the present
habit of closing a WG as soon as all its drafts are approved for PS
or whether we should explicitly keep them alive at least until the 6
month timer for PS->DS has popped.
"+++++++++
" 6.5 Conflict Resolution and Appeals "
---------"
My main comment is that this subsection is misplaced. It's possible
to read this as applying only to IESG actions described in this
section 6. The IESG has preferred to read it as applying to any IESG
decision whatever. I suspect we'd be better off if this was a
separate document, but at the minimum it should be promoted to a
first level section and its scope of applicability defined precisely
but broadly. Also experience suggests we should consider some
mechanism to deal with over-enthusiastic use of the appeal mechanism
by individuals.
"+++++++++
" 6.5.1 Working Group Disputes "
"... If the disagreement cannot be resolved by the Area Director(s)
any of the parties involved may then appeal to the IESG as a whole.
The IESG shall then review the situation and attempt to resolve it in
a manner of its own choosing. "
---------"
It would be very helpful to give some indication of how much due
diligence is expected of the IESG. Today there is a tendency in the
IESG to believe that even if an appeal is of doubtful merit, we need
to plunge in great detail into the documents and mail archives
concerned, and reaching a conclusion can take an inordinate amount of
time and stress. Some IESG members would prefer a much more summary
approach to appeals. Does the community want us to spend a
substantial amount of time on each appeal? (Same comments apply to
section 6.5.2.)
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"+++++++++
" If the disagreement is not resolved to the satisfaction of the
parties at the IESG level, any of the parties involved may appeal the
decision to the IAB. The IAB shall then review the situation and
attempt to resolve it in a manner of its own choosing. "
---------"
I'm sure the IAB has similar questions.
"+++++++++
" 7.1 Use of External Specifications "
" To avoid conflict between competing versions of a specification,
the Internet community will not standardize a specification that is
simply an "Internet version" of an existing external specification "
---------"
"IETF version"?
"+++++++++
" 8. NOTICES AND RECORD KEEPING "
"... As a practical matter, the formal record of all Internet
Standards Process activities is maintained by the IETF Secretariat,
and is the responsibility of the IETF Secretariat except that each
IETF Working Group is expected to maintain their own email list
archive and must make a best effort to ensure that all traffic is
captured and included in the archives. Also, the Working Group chair
is responsible for providing the IETF Secretariat with complete and
accurate minutes of all Working Group meetings. Internet-Drafts that
have been removed (for any reason) from the Internet-Drafts
directories shall be archived by the IETF Secretariat for the sole
purpose of preserving an historical record of Internet standards
activity and thus are not retrievable except in special
circumstances. "
---------"
See comments on section 2.2.
"+++++++++
" 9. VARYING THE PROCESS "
"... The proposed variance must detail the problem perceived,
explain the precise provision of this document which is causing the
need for a variance, and the results of the IESG's considerations
including consideration of points (a) through (d) in the previous
paragraph. The proposed variance shall be issued as an Internet
Draft. The IESG shall then issue an extended Last-Call, of no less
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than 4 weeks, to allow for community comment upon the proposal. "
---------"
This is clumsy. I see no reason why the variance should not be built
into the document that will benefit from it, for example in a section
named "Process Variance." Having it separate is makework.
Publishing it as a separate BCP is pointless expense.
"+++++++++
" ... This variance procedure is for use when a one-time waving of
some "
---------"
The word is 'waiving'.
"+++++++++
" 10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS "
---------"
This section is superseded by [RFC3978] and [RFC3979].
3. Security Considerations
This document has no security implications for the Internet.
4. IANA Considerations
This document requires no action by the IANA.
5. Acknowledgements
Useful comments on this document were made by: TBD...
This document was produced using the xml2rfc tool[RFC2629].
6. Change log [RFC Editor: please remove this section]
draft-carpenter-rfc2026-critique-00: original version, 2006-02-24
7. Informative References
[RFC1264] Hinden, R., "Internet Engineering Task Force Internet
Routing Protocol Standardization Criteria", RFC 1264,
October 1991.
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[RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996.
[RFC2629] Rose, M., "Writing I-Ds and RFCs using XML", RFC 2629,
June 1999.
[RFC3932] Alvestrand, H., "The IESG and RFC Editor Documents:
Procedures", BCP 92, RFC 3932, October 2004.
[RFC3967] Bush, R. and T. Narten, "Clarifying when Standards Track
Documents may Refer Normatively to Documents at a Lower
Level", BCP 97, RFC 3967, December 2004.
[RFC3978] Bradner, S., "IETF Rights in Contributions", BCP 78,
RFC 3978, March 2005.
[RFC3979] Bradner, S., "Intellectual Property Rights in IETF
Technology", BCP 79, RFC 3979, March 2005.
[RFC4071] Austein, R. and B. Wijnen, "Structure of the IETF
Administrative Support Activity (IASA)", BCP 101,
RFC 4071, April 2005.
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Author's Address
Brian Carpenter
IBM
8 Chemin de Blandonnet
1214 Vernier,
Switzerland
Email: brc@zurich.ibm.com
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| PAFTECH AB 2003-2026 | 2026-04-24 08:24:59 |