On Aug 30, 2011, at 12:46 PM, Eric Burger wrote:

> Can you give an example of where a dangling SHOULD makes sense?  Most often I 
> see something like:
>       SHOULD implement security
> meaning
>       SHOULD implement security, unless you do not feel like it or are in an 
> authoritarian regime that bans security

That wording doesn't make any sense.  Security implementation should almost 
always be a MUST, regardless of what any particular government might say.  We 
shouldn't relax the security requirements of our protocols because of 
brain-damaged governments (and I include my own country's government in that 
list).   

In cases like this it's sometimes important to distinguish between 
implementation and use.  "MUST implement, SHOULD use" is a common compromise.

Note also that MUST doesn't mean "you have to do this".   It means "if you 
don't do this, you don't comply with the specification".

I don't think the example above is a typical use of SHOULD, though it might be 
too common.

Keith

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