On Monday, April 15, 2002, at 10:34 PM, Harald Tveit Alvestrand wrote:
[...] I'd like to hear the IETF community's input on the topic. [...]
This is a matter of politics, philosophy and economics (PPE). Asking
engineers to comment on such things is nice-- we're so often left out of
such discussions.
Here's what I think: asking this question is like asking, "how many
units of currency and instruments of payment does the world need?" The
answer depends on your theories of PPE.
If I could measure the "sovereignty" of the IETF as a political
organization, I'd say it's a function of 1) the value of the networks
defined by the standard protocols it has produced to the present, and 2)
the forecasted increase in value derived from the standards the world
expects it will produce in the future.
The obvious (but meaningless) answer is "as many as needed".
Please allow me to speculate that what the Chair meant to say was "as
many or as few as will serve to optimize the present and future value of
the Internet."
The more interesting question is whether the IETF process is well suited
to finding the right number of standards or protocols for any given
purpose. On *that* subject, I will demure to wiser and older hands than
myself. For now, anyway.
--
j h woodyatt <jhw(_at_)wetware(_dot_)com>