On 5/23/2007 10:28 PM, Jari Arkko wrote:
BOF's are not working groups, and in most cases, they don't get to
make consensus decisions. In particular, they do _not_ get to decide
whether a working group will be formed or what its charter will say
(though this seems to be a common misconception). Those decisions
rest with the sponsoring AD(s) and the IESG; the purpose of a BOF is
to guage interest and provide a forum for community input.
I would add that a successful BOF results in
having some idea from the room of what the
charter should be. Often this is different
from what initial proposals were floated
before the meeting; after the meeting
specific text for the charter is discussed
on the BOF mailing list. And, at the very
end of the process, we have IETF review
of the new charter. So the final determination
rests with the IETF community, and is done
over e-mail. Of course, before we get that far
the BOF chairs, ADs, the IESG, and the IAB need
to be happy with the proposal as well.
Sure, however the problem is if the sponsoring AD or the IAB members who
write reviews are sold on the idea or able to understand the problem
space, the BoF has a better chance of success. So, if an IAB member did
not understand the problem space and say misrepresents what happened at
the BoF session, the review of course is private and the rest of the IAB
depends on that report to make a recommendation. If the BoF report were
public, the proponents would have a chance to correct the error.
Clearly, I am speaking hypothetically here; things may not always be
that simple.
Lakshminath
Jari
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