Otherwise, IMO, this doc should basically say "IANA pointers should be
updated as deemed useful". In some cases, there's a benefit, but not in
all cases. E.g., we have docs that obsolete protocols but IANA still
keeps a pointer to the codepoint. I don't want the new pointer to be to
the doc that obsoletes them; I would want the pointer to be to the
original spec.
Of course, yes, and I think the doc does say that: the pointer should
be to the most current definition, and the sentences in question here
do talk about registries and entries that are in current use. I, too,
would be dismayed if we started pointing references away from the
definition of the code point and toward something that says, "This
isn't used any more."
I'd prefer to trust the author to do the right thing that to engineer
this document with an algorithm.
I agree, though we have ample evidence that authors don't always.
This is aiming to give guidance, not to provide any mechanical "do
this and it'll work" algorithm.
Barry