I just have been a member of the mailing list for a few days and what I
have seen appalled me. It seems that a small "clique" of people are the
only ones participating, and half of their discussions are squabbles and
personal attacks against each other. It is very hard to get any word in or
any meaningful discussion to be held.
Hereby in accordance with RFC 2014 ("IRTF Research Group Guidelines"),
section 5.1 and 5.3, I would like to formally request that the IRTF and
ASRG Chairs steps in and starts directing the working group. Below is the
relevant section from the RFC:
5.1. IRTF Chair
The IRTF Chair is responsible for ensuring that Research Groups
produce coherent, coordinated, architecturally consistent and timely
output as a contribution to the overall evolution of the Internet
architecture. In addition to the detailed tasks related to Research
Groups outlined below, the IRTF Chair may also from time to time
arrange for topical workshops attended by the IRSG and perhaps other
experts in the field.
Planning
The IRTF Chair monitors the range of activities. This may include
encouraging the formation of Research Groups directly, rather than
waiting for proposals from IRTF participants.
Coordination of Research Groups
The IRTF Chair coordinates the work done by the various Research
Groups.
Reporting
The IRTF Chair reports on IRTF progress to the to the IAB and the
wider Internet community (including via the IMR).
Progress tracking
The IRTF Chair tracks and manages the progress of the various
Research Groups with the aid of a regular status report on
documents and accomplishments from the Research Group Chairs. The
resulting reports are made available to the community at large at
regular intervals.
5.3. Research Group Chair
The Research Group Chair is concerned with making forward progress in
the areas under investigation, and has wide discretion in the conduct
of Research Group business. The Chair must ensure that a number of
tasks are performed, either directly or by others assigned to the
tasks. This encompasses at the very least the following:
Ensuring the Research Group process and content management
The Chair has ultimate responsibility for ensuring that a Research
Group achieves forward progress. For some Research Groups, this
can be accomplished by having the Chair perform all management-
related activities. In other Research Groups -- particularly
those with large or divisive participation -- it is helpful to
allocate process and/or secretarial functions to other
participants. Process management pertains strictly to the style
of Research Group interaction and not to its content. The
secretarial function encompasses preparation of minutes, and
possibly editing of group-authored documents.
Moderate the Research Group email list
The Chair should attempt to ensure that the discussions on this
list are relevant and that not devolve to "flame" attacks or rat-
hole into technical trivia. The Chair should make sure that
discussions on the list are summarized and that the outcome is
well documented (to avoid repetition).
Organize, prepare and chair face-to-face and on-line formal meetings
The Chair should plan and announce meetings well in advance. (See
section on Meeting Planning for procedures.)
Communicate results of meetings
The Chair and/or Secretary must ensure that minutes of a meeting
are taken.
Distribute the work
It is expected that all Research Group participants will actively
contribute to the work of the group. Research Group membership is
expected to be a long term commitment by a set of motivated
members of the research community. Of course, at any given time
more of the work is likely to be done by a few participants with
particular interests, set of skills and ideas. It is the task of
the Chair to motivate enough experts to allow for a fair
distribution of the workload.
Document development
Research Groups produce documents and documents need authors.
However, authorship of papers related to the work of a Research
Group is one of the primary reasons that researchers become
members, so finding motivated authors should not be a problem.
It is up to the Research Group to decide the authorship of papers
resulting from Research Group activities. In particular,
authorship by the entire group is not required.
Document publication
The Chair and/or Secretary will work with the RFC Editor to ensure
documents to be published as RFCs conform with RFC publication
requirements and to coordinate any editorial changes suggested by
the RFC Editor.
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Yakov Shafranovich / <research(_at_)solidmatrix(_dot_)com>
SolidMatrix Research, a division of SolidMatrix Technologies, Inc.
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"One who watches the wind will never sow, and one who keeps his eyes on
the clouds will never reap" (Ecclesiastes 11:4)
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