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Graham Klyne <GK-lists(_at_)ninebynine(_dot_)org> writes:
Mulling some more, I do see a potential problem that you may be alluding
to, and have another thought. Allowing provisional registration of non X-
headers might be seen as tacitly acknowledging that it's OK to use them
without standardization, regardless of what the protocol spec may say.
This matter has recently been discussed extensively on the USEFOR WG. The
opinion seems to be that X-headers are more trouble than they are worth
(especially if they come into widespread use and widely deployed software
contains code that recognises them). It is also noted that RFC 2822 no
longer distinguishes them as a special case.
Current thinking on Usefor (as reflected in the current draft) is that
X-headers are appropriate for informative headers that are intended only
for human consumption (or for 'vanity' headers, and the like). There is a
blanket ban on standardizing them. And the recommendation for someone
devising some experimental protocol that is expected to require code in
widely-deployed software is to use a non-X header, whatever any standards
might say. There are dangers in this, but it is regarded as the lesser of
the two evils.
How about changing the rules for provisional registration to allow all
comers for header field names beginning with X-, and require IETF consensus
or IESG approval for anything else? (I'd need to check that this has the
desired effect for HTTP and News.)
I don't think any X-header should ever be registered. But if you want some
restriction on what gets into any "provisional" classification, then I
think maybe the Area Director (or his nominated expert, as already
provided for in the IANA RFC) should be given some say. And it is clearly
in the nature of any "provisional" register that there should be some
mechanism to take things out of it. Otherwise, it is not "provisional".
--
Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------
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