This one is not going to win me many popularity points, I reckon.
Consequently, I have been hesitant to post it, especially since I need to
name names. The latter is something I particularly dislike; yet I also do
not wish to hide behind the "a certain individual" crap. I also wish to
stress, that this is NOT about the individual himself, but about the role of
that individual. So, here goes:
After MARID, Mark Lentczner was going to draft SPF v1, basically what SPF
had de facto been to-date (loosely referred to as "SPF Classic"). And I am
not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point, over the course of
time, I think we have allowed the one who writes the standard, also to be
the one who 'sets' the standard. And I am not necessarily happy with this.
When I look at "draft-lentczner-spf-00.txt", I see things added that were
certainly not part of SPF Classic; and, conversely, things removed that
definitely were. And I see objections: people want stuff back in, or thrown
back out. I have seen Mark Lentczner address some of the objections; but,
for the most time, those have been explanations of his rationale for doing
things one way, or the other. I have even heard folks commend him on the
fact that he even bothers to answer, where most "drafters" would not.
Now, not to be overly rude, but when exactly has Mark Lentczner been given
the authority to have a definitive say in things? Hence my first question,
when have we allowed the one who writes the standard, also to be the one who
'sets' the standard?
I hate to make it sound so personal, but in all honesty, I think Mark
Lentczner has overstepped his mandate. Objections seem to be overruled or
ignored; and now a draft has been published that really exceeds SPF
"Classic" as we knew it.
Disturbing as some may find it, I do not think it is a coincidence that
wayne has now published his own draft; and you can say about wayne what you
want, but his draft is, imho, really what the draft of Mark Lentczner was
supposed to be: an adequate reflection of what SPF is to-date.
It almost seems a trend, of late, that when the SPF community says "We want
to go left!", the powers that be respond, "Great, let's go right!"
I am not a great politician; so I'm sure there is all kinds of stuff going
on behind the scenes that I am unaware of. But if "we" really lost control
over SPF, I would not mind hearing about it.
- Mark
System Administrator Asarian-host.org
---
"If you were supposed to understand it,
we wouldn't call it code." - FedEx