The IETF does continue to have an emphasis on connectionless,
packet-oriented delivery. That's our fundamental architecture, without
question. In the meantime there are customers who want to transition to
c, p-o d but need mechanisms for doing so.
Personally I'd find this proposal more compelling if it
were being presented as being oriented towards transitional
mechanisms. We're seeing circuit-y proposals show up in
other working groups and I'm concerned that these reflect a
shift in basic assumptions about the characteristics of the
underlying network, at least among a non-trivial number of
participants.
As a process kind of thing, I'm also concerned about the
growth of the "temporary" sub-IP area, so I think there are
issues here with both the work itself and in how the IETF
goes about taking on and structuring its work.
Melinda