Re: An Internet Draft as reference material

[Stephen Kent]

I want to second Bob Braden's pithy observation re I-Ds.  If they 
make it through the process and become RFCs (including informational 
RFCs) then they clearly merit retention and they achieve it, since 
RFcs are archival. However, many I-Ds do not make it through the 
process and to archive them may seem to elevate them to a status that 
they have not merited.  I don't mean to suggest that these documents 
have not value.  The next author of a book on the history of IETF 
standards would certainly find them of great value. But, I don't want 
to see them cited in some product marketing data sheet, further 
confusing folks who already are confused by the fact that all 
standards are RFCs, but not all RFCs are standards ...


Steve