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Re: When is an idea a good idea?

2014-01-29 10:17:09

On 01/29/2014 09:57 AM, Dave Crocker wrote:
On 1/28/2014 12:14 PM, Spencer Dawkins wrote:
Speaking only for myself, I don't expect Proposed Standards to be
perfect, and to work perfectly in every situation, but if a
specification doesn't describe any limits on applicability, I'm going to
be evaluating it as if it will be used on the open Internet (that's what
the "I" in "IETF" stands for).
...
So, if you don't intend for your draft to be used on the global
Internet, please say so!


Spencer,

What an excellent bit of constructive suggestion.

However you've cast it as being for the purpose of guiding IESG evaluation, and I think that it really has much broader... applicability. Anyone reading the document needs to know the intended scope of use. For example, obviously an implementer ought to understand the operational limitations meant for a specification.

I take your suggestion to reduce to a simple guideline:

The default applicability for an IETF specification is the 'open' Internet. Any specification intended for more constrained use needs to describe the constraints. One means of achieving this can be an "Applicability" section in the specification, with a description of intended use.

Dave, I think that sounds about right.

Part of what I think about during IESG evaluation is the potential for someone to use the proposal in a way that trips over unstated assumptions. Seeing that a proposal includes some thoughts about intended uses (and why) makes me worry less. Downstream readers and implementers are definitely part of the food chain.


A potentially larger benefit of this consideration is that it might get designers to think a bit more explicitly about the use of their work.

That could be lovely ...

Spencer

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