At 08:47 AM 12/21/00 -0800, Bill Manning wrote:
>True. The point being that the IETF is becoming a "rubber-stamp" for
>work already complete.
This is simply not true. Sometimes we take in work that is mature and
needs only minor changes to satisfy the community. To characterize this as
either frequent or rubber stamping is entirely off the mark.
It IS true that development from scratch, within a working group, is highly
problematic when the group is large and/or the topic complicated. (Can we
all say "design by committee".) That's why the concept of the design team
is formally acknowledged.
And some folks have noticed that forming the design team and doing an
initial specification BEFORE chartering the working group can be much more
efficient.
However the ultimate test of the material in the stamp is whether the
working group can and does exercise ultimate authority over specifications
and whether it can and does make changes. All of my IETF experience says
that anyone expecting rubber in the stamp is quickly -- and with
appropriate rudeness -- educated otherwise.
d/
=-=-=-=-=
Dave Crocker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Brandenburg Consulting <www.brandenburg.com>
Tel: +1.408.246.8253, Fax: +1.408.273.6464
