Just a few choice bits.

On Tue, May 26, 2026, at 17:32, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
> Yes, although iirc the RPC allows one author to explicitly delegate 
> AUTH48 to a co-author.

That's not something I'd encourage them to keep in light of this perspective.

>> Section 3 talks about contributors making smaller contributions, but the 
>> example of withdrawal in Section 2 and the entirety of Section 4 makes that 
>> a lie.  Contributors are simply people who made notable contributions to the 
>> document.  The key difference is that they don't claim ownership of the 
>> content of the document.
>
> Yes, but I don't think there's much in the section 3 text that is 
> affected by that.

It very strongly suggests that the line between contributor and author is the 
*size* of contributions, which is not the case.

>> Section 4 would need significant reframing in light of this.  The editor 
>> role carries a weaker notion of responsibility than an author.  
>
> I think that's debatable. We're not talking about a copy editor or a 
> technical editor. I don't think an RFC2418-style editor has any less 
> responsibility than their co-authors.

On reflection, I have to agree.  A possible distinction then is whether there 
is an expectation that the person in the "editor" generated substantial 
portions of text.  I'm listed on documents as editor where I generated most of 
the text, so I don't know if that holds.  I do believe that the editor role was 
assigned specifically so there would be a lower degree of "ownership".

Stating that editor implies the same responsibility as authors, but not 
necessarily original authorship of content, is probably the right way to handle 
this.  Though I think you need to acknowledge that someone might be designated 
as editor rather than author for multiple reasons.

>> Section 6 talks about previous versions.  The responsibility razor here is a 
>> useful tool.  Previous authors who are willing to assume responsibility for 
>> the new version should be listed as authors.  Those who do not should be 
>> listed as contributors.  (This is a very clean approach, but there is always 
>> room for finding mutually-agreeable outcomes, as the draft notes.)
>
> That's certainly true for the IETF stream I'm not 100% certain for the 
> other streams.

I suggest that we set the core policy as I indicated and rely on the per-stream 
policy override clause to cover any divergence from that.

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