Couple weeks ago in private I told somebody that uncertainty about what
direction to take as far as SPF drafts was a temporary thing which was
result of "MARID aftershocks". Now two weeks after we're still at the same
point and discussions on the list only intensified, so I now think its
more then aftershocks - SPF has been poisoned!
We now have basicly the same problems as what MARID group had which caused
its failure:
1. Pressure to take certain direction from very large corporation
2. Patent problems due to the same corporation unwilling to share
3. Group leaders bowing under pressure and trying to take the group
in direction that is not supported by all but very few
4. As a result of 1-3 there is no consensus on how to proceed
5. As a result of 1-4 the group is splitting into multiple camps
each trying to develop its own standard.
Unless SPF wants to come to the same failure situation as MARID, I do
believe we need to get rid of the "MARID" poison (its name always seems
to end with "..ID"). That means SPF needs to go back to its roots in the
open-source community which is trying to create standard for
authentication SMTP session parameters. That means we need to get
rid of the pressure from large companies and tell them to work with
us on equal basis as participant of the group (and share their ideas
freely with everyone) and if they don't, they should not expect anything
special from us or any support for their ideas from this group. And that
means that group leaders will need to once again start listening to views
expressed by community members and bring all them forward and not otherwise
do sonething under the "SPF flag" that is not supported does not have
general consensus of SPF group.
And we do need to have this dealt with fast because the poison seems
to be spreading and it will stop us from being able to move forward in
any direction (i.e. doing any serious work towards UnifiedSPF).
--
William Leibzon
Elan Networks
william(_at_)elan(_dot_)net