On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 06:22:03PM -0400, Keith Moore wrote: > > There are times that I think the IETF shouldn't be entirely a bottom-up > process. It pains me, for example, to see some of our core protocols (like > email) neglected over time because some combination of (a) nobody on the > "bottom" pushed hard enough to get work started, and/or (b) the work that > the IETF does on existing protocols is too piecemeal because it's easier to > get consensus on small incremental changes than broad changes (sometimes but > maybe not always this is good), and/or (c) people argue that "industry" > should replace standard solutions with proprietary ones and maybe things > will work out anyway (history disproves that, IMO). I suspect that other SDO's have similar issues. At the end of the day, someone has to do the work, and so all SDO's are volunteer-driven organizations. Sure, some (maybe even most) engineers might get their salary paid for by the company, but then the *company* has to be willing to allow their engineers to work on a particular standard. So if the IESG, or the core steering group for the X.NNN committee were to call for work on a particular item, there's no guarantee that work will magically happen. Someone has to be willing to task engineers to that process --- either engineers tasking themselves as individual volunteers, or their employers. Now, individual volunteers may be much rarer for other SDO's since you have to pay $$$ to join ANSI or INCITS or some other national body before you can even participate, But that's neither here nor there. At the end of the day, as Jeff Schiller has said, in the the IETF, the AD has great power to *stop* some particular work from progressing. But as in any volunteer organization, the power to *start* a particuar work is much more limited. Leaders in volunteer organizations, whether that be a service organization, or a church, or an open source project, have to learn how to inspire people, and/or help them match their particular business goals with the goals that you are trying to accomplish. Cheers, - Ted
