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Re: Why have we gotten away from running code?

2005-08-10 11:25:24
From my experience over the last 25 years I have seen the number go from
almost all "academics" (and some truly impressive geeks) to more a mix
like OSI The people that attend are there to represent the position of
their management (or manager) and their companies not look for the best
solution. The idea behind the code was that it would help flush away bad
ideas and help tighten up the language in the RFCs.

Hey, we not only had code that ran we also had "bake-offs" to make sure
all the stuff worked together. The idea was to work out the nuances (the
20% of the inaccuracies) and produce a damn good system. Today the idea
is to slap something together - damn the interop - and get out the door
for the "first mover advantage."  We also tend to not worry about the
experience of the user - we expect them to understand our "Gold" is more
like fool's gold than a well thought out and tested system.

Chuck


Dave Singer wrote:

I hear the opposite complaint enough to believe that the truth lies
somewhere in between ("the ietf is dominated by academics who have no
idea what it takes to design, deploy, and maintain large complex
networks").  I only see a tiny portion of the ietf myself, agreed (I
doubt many people see much more as it is so large), but I don't see
reason to be excessively pejorative about the attendance I see.  It's
mixed;  academics, industrial engineers, writers, thinkers,
implementers, observers, dilettantes, all mixed in.  Just like other
standards orgs.



At 18:36  +0200 10/08/05, Simon Josefsson wrote:

I think that is a good point.  A variation on that theme is that the
IETF is no longer run by people who actually implement protocols.  The
relevance and impact of the IETF on what is actually used on the
Internet is marginalized through that change of membership.  The
attitude of "That is not how we do things in the IETF" make people go
away.

Cheers,
Simon

C Wegrzyn <lists(_at_)garbagedump(_dot_)com> writes:

 I think a big part of the issue is that the IETF has been taken over
 little by little by corporate interests. Before it used to be for the

 > "love of doing it". Today it is more for "the benefit of one".





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