I find myself compelled to agree with both Noel and Kent here. The question may
have been posed offensively - I take no position on that - but in matters
like this past experience is hugely relevant.
Like it or not, not every issue that comes up can be decided on the basis of
crisp technical arguments. (In fact it really seems to me that are less
able to decide things purely on technical merit as time goes on.)
And it's not just internal IETF matters at issue here: If, say, someone makes a
statement about the probable impact of some technical choice on the future
deployment of a protocol, people have every right to know if that statement is
based on past deployment experience or is nothing but guesswork.
And yes, this puts newcomers at something of a disadvantage because of their
lack of experience. And also note that when such questions are asked, the
answers can be disconcerting. You don't know what experience someone has until
you ask, and sometimes you find they have substantive experience that makes
them the expert, not you.
Ned
+1
> ...
>
> You mean, it's rude to ask what someone's experience is?
>
> If so, that's odd: I myself found it 'bloody rude' (well, actually, I'd use a
> slightly different term, but hey...) for someone to make suggestions on how
> to improve our meeting process when they have really no experience of it.
>
> Noel
>
>