Keith Moore writes:
it's even more absurd that widely used protocols should be
subject to arbitrary modification by any random individual
who thinks he understands what is going on better than
anybody else.
We aren't talking about ``arbitrary modification.'' We are talking about
_extensions_ to the Internet protocol suite, through mechanisms designed
to support these extensions: TCP ports, header fields, etc.
Some ``random individual'' at CERN developed and deployed the World Wide
Web without approval from anyone other than his boss. Imagine going back
to 1990 and demanding that he write protocol specs, deal with people
like Keith Moore, and build ``consensus,'' before being allowed to use a
TCP port!
The past decade of Internet progress happened _despite_ IETF control,
not because of it. IETF is too big, too slow, and too far out of touch
with the users. I am confident that fast, responsive, decentralized
protocol development, taking advantage of open extension mechanisms,
will continue to fuel Internet progress.
---Dan