Thus spake RFC 2119:
3. SHOULD This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED", mean that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a particular item, but the full implications must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.
At 11:18 PM -0400 5/11/05, Robert Sayre wrote:
My interpretation is correct.
That's impossible to assess because you haven't said which wording you are applying your interpretation to. Please be specific: is it the current draft, a particular Pace, or a particular group of Paces?
At 11:38 AM -0400 5/11/05, Robert Sayre wrote:
Remember, if we say SHOULD, that means implementations don't have to interoperate with people who don't provide a summary.
A receiving implementation must be able to handle all defined elements, regardless if they are defined as MAY sent, SHOULD send, or MUST send, so I'm not sure what you mean by "interoperate".
That does not mean 'doesn't display' or 'doesn't index', despite what some would have you believe. It means the Atom Processor is allowed to fail.
Fully disagree.
SHOULD does not mean "encourage". Remember that.
Fully agree.
I'm not going argue any more.
Fully disagree.
--Paul Hoffman, Director --Internet Mail Consortium
