[Last-Call] Last Call: <draft-tenoever-tao-retirement-02.txt> (Retiring the Tao of the IETF) to Informational RFC

["Deen, Glenn" <Glenn_Deen=40comcast.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-tenoever-tao-retirement/

 

 

3. Going forward

 

   The content of the Tao has already been integrated into the website

   of the IETF, which is the main channel of communication for IETF

   newcomers and a general audience.  The content is continuously kept

   up to date with a variety of media to serve different audiences.  The

   IETF seeks to ensure that the website continues to address the needs

   of our ever-evolving community and potential newcomers.

 

 

Comments:

 

I do not think the above proposal to retire the TAO and replace it with various web pages is a good idea.    It replaces the single TAO which provides a consolidated and easily citable source, of  the many helpful and unique bits of information about the IETF and how it works, with a large number of separate web pages and a large number of links between them.   

 

If I’m misunderstanding the plan, which I cited above from the document’s section 3, please correct me.   Section 3, reads to me that the TAO single document would cease and would instead the helpful information about the IETF, especially for newcomers and those not directly working with the IETF would be moved to various web pages on the IETF and possibly other sites like the IESG and IAB etc. 

 

While Web Sites are very useful ways of producing and publishing content they lack many of the benefits of the current TAO document and publishing it though the RFC process.      

 

The TAO provides an easily citable single source that covers in one place, in one document the many important and unique aspects of the IETF:
  
 (1) Replacing with a web site would scatter this material across many different pages and increasing the difficulty and work for a newcomer to find and read.   

 (2) With the information consolidated in the TAO, it is easier for editors to keep the sections consistent while we know from experience that different web pages, sometimes maintain by different people at differing times can and will get out of sync resulting in conflicts and confusion.   

 (3) The TAO and all it’s past versions are available via Datatracker, along with history information and other meta-data aspects of the TAO documents.     Web pages do not offer such historical versions and any history/meta-data is hidden out of view of the reader.

 

 

The Web is a very good tool, but a web site of many different pages which put the burden on readers to figure out what link they should follow or not to access all the cross-linked information contained in the current consolidated TAO is not a good replacement for the current TAO RFC.

 

I’m surprised something as core to the IETF as the TAO is going direct to last call so quickly and hasn’t had broader discussion/review.

 

Thanks

Glenn Deen

-- 
last-call mailing list
last-call@xxxxxxxx
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/last-call