Hi. For many, many, years we have had a cutoff for posting I-Ds about two weeks before an IETF meeting starts. That cutoff was established to give people time to read documents (especially because, predictably, many documents would be posted just before it), figure out which WG meetings they needed to attend, prepare comments, etc. We are now seeing pull requests that alter substantive parts of documents posted on Github within a short time before IETF starts and during the window when new or revised I-Ds are not allowed without special circumstances and specific permission from ADs. Allowing that seems to contradict, or at least seriously weaken, the principle of having documents available well in advance of meetings. If they are announced only to the mailing list of the relevant WG(s) (and sometimes not even that widely), it seems to me that they impede both WG meeting discussions in which everyone has the same starting points and openness to IETF participants who have not signed up for the WG mailing list (newcomers included). Is the IESG considering some guidance on this subject or is it considered unnecessary? As an almost-separate question, if the "real" version of an I-D that is expected to be discussed in meetings and on mailing list is the the draft plus the cumulative effect of pull requests (some by other than the listed authors), should that be more clear and reflected in the datatracker? thanks, john
