Hi Alan,

I'm not unsympathetic to the idea that we should focus efforts where
possible, and I'm also not interested in piling on.  But I think a
comment is in order regarding RFC 3127 and then I have a proposal for a
way forward.

On 2/11/16 4:25 PM, Alan DeKok wrote:
>
> - even if there were no procedural issues, the document violates IETF 
> consensus as described in RFC 3127

One has to put into perspective what was going on back then.  Many
different approaches were proposed to cover not only AAA but policy in
general, and the market was at risk of fragmentation.  There was a
pretty visible and dare I say heated process at the IETF that turned
into an attempt to align those who wanted to pursue policy with COPS and
COPS-PR and those who wanted to do something with RADIUS/Diameter.   
RFC 3127 and its predecessor RFC 2989 represented hard work in the
context of the efforts going on at the IETF at the time.  It was a tool
upon which the ADs relied to organize the work of O&M *at the time*.

However, in the 15 interceding years, what's become clear is that RADIUS
has broad applicability for a great many AAA uses; and for some cases
TACACS+ is appropriate.  For these purposes, such as command
authorization, TACACS+ is a defacto standard, no matter what the IETF
process says.  The nascence of this space is long past.  RFC 3127 was
never intended to be a constraint so far into the future but rather a
guide to ADs at the time as to how to proceed.

The choice here, it seems to me, is really one of change control.  I
agree with you, Tom, and others who write that the IETF doesn't just
rubber stamp protocols.  On the other hand, changes should be made with
due care toward what is deployed.  I personally have faith that our
processes and good community involvement would provide for a good path
forward on this.

In summary, if people want a standard, I propose the following way forward:

1.  An applicability statement for TACACS+ that describes when TACACS+
is appropriate for use;
2.  The proper following of working group process;
3.  Appropriate and timely IPR declarations; and
4.  It should be clear that the IETF has the necessary rights to effect
changes.

Thoughts/Comments?

Eliot

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