You are claiming that MIME/PEM issues have been addressed in the
open. This is exactly what I didn't want to hear. They have
not been addressed openly, and hearing you say they have only
underscores my sense that the authors are out of touch with the
rest of the pem-dev voices. Let me clarify this with two
examples, one from the past and one that is currently active.
The decision to add the PGP identifier happened offline from
pem-dev. Shortly after, Steve Dusse posted a message asking why
MIME/PEM needs to support an identifier from another standard
which has incompatible encoding protocols. He suggested that
the better approach is for them to define their own MIME body
part. This suggestion enjoyed *zero* response from the authors.
And now recently, the decision was made offline to remove the
PGP identifier, not due to discussion on pem-dev, but rather
some other mysterious process. The same outcome of Steve's
original suggestion has happened but not by addressing concerns
openly. This is extremely disquieting.
Jeff, it is not uncommon in the IETF for suggestions to be made and
discussed offline from the global mailing list. There are many reasons
for this but probably the preferred one is that small numbers of people
working together are more likely to accomplish something then large
numbers of people working together.
Yes, a private suggestion was made to included PGP identifiers in an
earlier draft. The authors agreed and made the change. Naturally, we
then distributed the revised document to the working group for review
and acceptance. I recall mixed sentiment from the working group with
respect to its inclusion, so the decision was revisited and we changed
our minds, IN RESPONSE TO WORKING GROUP FEEDBACK.
It is certainly true that the authors of this document are not
responding personally to every note/message/comment/suggestion that is
made, but that does not mean we're not listening.
I have my own questions I'd like to post, but I feel they will be
ignored as Steve Dusse's was before and Kazuhiko Yamamoto's is now.
If responses are being given, they should happen on pem-dev.
I will do my best to answer your questions. I can not promise
instantaneous responses nor would I want to.
I'd like the name of someone personally accountable for addressing
questions, as we enjoyed with Steve Kent in the original PEM
effort.
The authors of the drafts are accountable. This includes Steve Crocker,
Jim Galvin, Sandy Murphy, and Ned Freed. Some of us will no doubt be
more vocal than others. I hope this is okay with you.
Jim