--On Saturday, December 28, 2024 12:37 -0500 Michael Richardson <mcr+ietf@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Rob Wilton \(rwilton\) <rwilton=40cisco.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > I agree that we are not the protocol police, but +1 to having > a short > easily to understand banner on old RFCs. We could > have a few different > suggestions of text that could be used. > > Going forward, can we make marking a document as "Historic" (I > really think we should change the term), be an errata on the > document so that it gets patched? I realize that this likely > misses everything prior to XML transition, but let's plan for > success. For reasons that are probably clear from discussions in another thread, I think that mixing up "Historic" and the errata system in any resembling its current form is a mistake. > > Rather than saying "no not use", we could just say "The > IETF advises > you not to use … > > I think that there are two levels here and this is where the term > fails: > > 1) the protocol is done, and extensions are unwelcome. > (keep using it as you prefer). > > 2) the protocol is unsafe and not only should you not extend it, > but you need to plan to stop using it. There are at least two more: 3) The protocol is obsolete and no one cares any more but, while there is nothing inherently unsafe about it, we advise against its use. Example: there is nothing fundamentally wrong with RFC 594, at least if one has a working IMP floating around (but those devices are, themselves, Historic). 4) The protocol specification has been superceded by newer specifications but the document is still identified as Standards Track (sometimes even Internet Standard) and there is nothing unsafe about it (at least any more so than the successor documents). > In most cases we mean (1), but the industry hears (2). Except when we mean (3) or (4) -- or should be using some variation on "Historic" but have not bothered -- in which case "the industry" just gets confused and maybe questions either our sanity or willingness to take responsibility. john
