Folks,
On 11/11/2010 12:25 PM, Dave CROCKER wrote:
To establish the base: It is not possible to achieve widespread use on the
Internet without having multiple components interacting. That's called
interoperability.
However, the interoperability might be among components that are clones of a
single code base.
So our language needs to be enhanced to cover multiple implementations. And as
long as the language hood is up, we might as well put in a turbo-booster that
asserts the higher octane 'interoperability' word.
A hallway conversation with Russ added an item that simply had not occurred to
me:
There might be multiple implementations that rely on on undocumented
modifications of the spec. This means that an additional, interoperable
implementation cannot be made purely from the specification.
Again, I believe the requirement for the document is "merely" to get the wording
right. I do not believe any of us differ on the actual meaning we are trying to
achieve. That is, I have not seen anything that indicates we have disparity
about the intended requirement.
Test language: (*)
(Full) Internet Standard:
The Internet community achieves rough consensus -- on using
the multiple, independent implementations of a specification
and
3.3. [Full] Internet Standard (IS)
This is the existing final standards status, based on attainment of
significant community acceptance, as demonstrated by use of multiple,
independent implementations that conform to the specification.
d/
ps. I just realized that the original language that Russ cited said "on using
the running code of a specification". "Of a specification" explicitly means
that the stuff that is running is the spec and, therefore, can't really mean
that it's using hallway agreements. (However I think it's dandy to make the
Section 3.3 language bullet-proofed against creative misunderstanding.)
(*) This is just from me; it hasn't been vetted with my co-authors.
--
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
bbiw.net
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