* John C Klensin wrote:
>--On Wednesday, February 11, 2015 22:44 +0100 Bjoern Hoehrmann
><[email protected]> wrote:
>> I am not happy with "this document generally recommends"; it's
>> not clear if this is the recommendation or if the
>> recommendation is elswhere; it's also not clear if this a RFC
>> 2119 RECOMMENDED or something weaker, made worse by
>> "generally" and also the preceding "unless". Should be easy to
>> rephrase, but I do not have a good idea right now.
>Second, while this is up to Pete, the WG, and its leadership it
>is getting late enough in the process that "I am not happy with"
>--in the absence of specific suggestions -- is not very helpful.
>We need to at least understand what you would like done, not
>just that you don't like what is there (or proposed).
The text "unless X this document generally recommends Y" is confusing.
Consider:
S
This document recommends Y (see section P).
P
Y is RECOMMENDED [RFC2119].
Contrast with:
S
This document recommends Y.
The latter case may be the result of intentionally removing the SHOULD-
level requirement and forgetting to update a section re-stating it.
Similarily, compare
S
Y is RECOMMENDED.
and
S
This document recommends Y.
In the latter case, did the authors deliberately decide to use a lower
case non-keyword, or did they just phrase "Y is RECOMMENDED" poorly?
Compare
S
Unless X, Y is RECOMMENDED.
and
S
Unless X, Y is REQUIRED.
Some would argue the two cases are essentially equivalent because RFC
2119 essentially defines "RECOMMENDED" as "REQUIRED unless". Others
would argue "RECOMMENDED" is used to allow exceptions beyond "X".
Compare
S
Unless X, Y is generally RECOMMENDED.
S
Unless X, Y is RECOMMENDED.
Some would argue "generally" is used to allow exceptions beyond "X"
while others would disagree.
--
Björn Höhrmann · mailto:[email protected] · http://bjoern.hoehrmann.de
D-10243 Berlin · PGP Pub. KeyID: 0xA4357E78 · http://www.bjoernsworld.de
Available for hire in Berlin (early 2015) · http://www.websitedev.de/
_______________________________________________
precis mailing list
[email protected]
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/precis
