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Re: IETF 65 BOF Announcement: Digital Identity Exchange (DIX)

2006-02-13 09:40:45


> There are lots of folks at IETF that are very familiar with Identity
> related problems and protocols. I am a bit disturbed that a solution is
> being proposed before the problem and the alternatives are throughly
> investigated.


Right.

Some IETF work items involve narrow topics that are well-understood and have a core of interested folk who are clear about both of these facts, and clear about their goals.

Other work items are not so lucky.

As part of our efforts to ensure timely, useful output, we should work pretty hard to assess likely risks for IETF work, from before its inception (and on an on-going basis, of course.)

Some items are clearly *very* important and *very* risky. They warrant pursuit but they are prime candidates for wasting the IETF's time. So they require extra efforts to find ways to make things be both timely and productive.

At the very least, a wasted BOF consumes an expensive slot and delays the topic by at least 4 months.

Note, however, that the opportunity costs associated with a BOF that is a public debacle can, in fact, have strategic impact, essentially poisoning the IETF waters.

d/
--

Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
<http://bbiw.net>

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