THURSDAY, November 13, 2003
1530-1730 Afternoon Sessions II
Salon C
GEN newtrk New IETF Standards Track Discussion BOF *
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CHAIRS: Scott Bradner <sob(_at_)harvard(_dot_)edu>
DESCRIPTION:
The consensus in the problem working group is that the current IETF 3-
stage standards track described in RFC 2026 [RFC2026] is not working as
originally intended. The draft problem statement document says:
"The current hierarchy of Proposed, Draft and Full Standard
maturity levels for specifications is no longer being used in the
way that was envisioned when the stratification was originally
proposed. In practice, the IETF currently has a one-step
standards process that subverts the IETF's preference for
demonstrating effectiveness through running code in multiple
interoperable implementations and compresses the process that
previously allowed specifications to mature as experience was
gained with actual implementations:"
The draft document then goes on to list 4 observations:
1/ few documents actually progress after being published as PS
2/ there is a perception that the IESG raised the quality requirement
3/ in spite of the raised quality requirement, running code is not
required
4/ there seems to be a reinforcing feedback loop involved: vendors
implement and deploy PS documents so the IESG tries to make the PS
documents better
The draft problem document concludes that the 3-stage process is
excessive.
This BOF will discuss the observation that the current IETF 3-stage
standards track is not working and discuss options for different standards
track processes.
Expected output of BOF:
1/ criteria for declaring "success" for a new IETF standards track
2/ next steps
AGENDA:
1/ description of current IETF Standards Track
2/ observations from problem working group
3/ what other SDOs do
4/ proposals for alternate standards track processes
5/ what would define success in a revised IETF Standards track
6/ open discussion
Reading List:
draft-ietf-problem-issue-statement-04.txt
draft-dawkins-pstmt-twostage-01.txt
draft-bradner-ietf-stds-trk-00.txt
draft-iesg-hardie-outline-00.txt
draft-loughney-what-standards-00.txt