RE: Gen-ART LC/Telechat Review of draft-ietf-isis-genapp-03.txt

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Ben -

The points you make below make sense to me - but I am not sure how we
get the stronger review process associated w "Expert Review" and at the
same time require that some public document exist for each application.
Are you saying that we can require both? I actually thought that was the
intent of "Specification Required" - but your comments suggest
otherwise.

I really wish RFC 5226 addressed this more robustly...

   Les

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ben Campbell [mailto:ben@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 8:55 AM
> To: Les Ginsberg (ginsberg)
> Cc: draft-ietf-isis-genapp.all@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx; General Area Review
> Team; The IETF
> Subject: Re: Gen-ART LC/Telechat Review of draft-ietf-isis-genapp-
> 03.txt
> 
> 
> On Oct 6, 2010, at 10:14 AM, Les Ginsberg (ginsberg) wrote:
> 
> 
> [...]
> 
> >>>
> >>> From RFC 5226:
> >>>
> >>> "Specification Required - Values and their meanings must be
> >>>           documented in a permanent and readily available public
> >>>           specification, in sufficient detail so that
> >> interoperability
> >>>           between independent implementations is possible.  When
> >> used,
> >>>           Specification Required also implies use of a Designated
> >>>           Expert, who will review the public specification..."
> >>>
> >>> We deliberately chose "Specification Required" because:
> >>>
> >>> a)It requires a public specification
> >>> b)It allows the public specification to be other than an RFC
> >>> c)It requires expert review
> >>
> >> Completing the sentence in your quote: "who will review the public
> >> specification and evaluate whether it is sufficiently clear to
allow
> >> interoperable implementations."
> >>
> >> My understanding of "Specification Required" is that the expert
> review
> >> is merely to ensure that the documentation is sufficiently complete
> > and
> >> readable to implement in an interoperable way. That review is not
> >> intended to ensure compliance to other criteria specified in the
> > draft.
> >>
> >> However, the draft includes some specific criteria for GENINFO
> >> applications. If you want the reviewer to enforce those criteria,
> then
> >> I think you need at least "Expert Review". OTOH, in RFC5226, the
> >> "expert review" policy has less to say about the required level of
> >> documentation, so the draft might require some more meat in that
> area.
> >>
> >
> > This is a bit distressing - because you are suggesting that RFC 5226
> > doesn't define a category which is appropriate for our usage - which
> > means we have to try to define a unique policy. I am not quite sure
> how
> > to do that with sufficient authority and minimal controversy.
> >
> > My understanding is that RFC 5226 is specific to IANA considerations
> -
> > so we have attempted to define a clear policy as to how the review
of
> > code point assignments is done.
> >
> > Beyond that, it seems clear that a given Application specification
> could
> > specify behavior that might be seen as undesirable e.g. it could
> specify
> > some extremely high rate of updates. Given that we allow application
> > specification to be defined in public documents from a variety of
> > sources, I don't see how we could define an enforceable review
policy
> > for the application specifications. It is at the IANA codepoint
> > allocation that we have control - and certainly it seems within the
> > purview of an expert to say "I think your specification is flawed
and
> I
> > won't approve the allocation of codepoints until the issues of
> concern
> > are addressed".
> >
> 
> 
> Yes, both "specification required" and "expert review" involve expert
> review. But they have significant differences in the scope of the
> review. "Specification required" means that the expert should review
to
> make sure the specification is clear enough to be implemented in an
> interoperable fashion. It doesn't in any way indicate that the expert
> thinks the code point is "good", or that it conforms to the purpose of
> the registry. Certainly, the expert could offer advise on issues, but
> the registrant would not be under any obligation to follow the advise.
> 
> "Expert Review" means that the expert should review a registration to
> make sure that it conforms to the criteria set forth in the document
> that defined the registry. I really think that is what you are looking
> for, particularly from your last sentence above about the expert being
> able to block allocation of a flawed code point.
> 
> For example, RFC 3563 calls out "Expert Review", and sets a number of
> criteria, one of which is the assertion that registrations require
> standards actions, or that they require publications from  ISO/IEC
> JTC1/SC6 that meant the normal requirements for an RFC.
> 
> In your case, I think you need Expert Review, with criteria along the
> lines that registrants must meet the requirements of "specification
> required", that it must describe its expected rate of updates (and
that
> this not be excessive), that it must address any security
> considerations, etc.
> 
> >
> >> I note that while RFC3563, which established the IS-IS TLV
Codepoint
> >> registry, says "Expert Review", the review criteria is pretty much
> >> equivalent to "standards action". I'm guessing the only reason it
> was
> >> not "standards action" was to allow ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6 to submit
> >> specifications, which are to be held to the same standard as a
> >> standards-track RFC, but do not actually get published as such. So
> for
> >> practical purposes, the proposed policy for GENINFO is
significantly
> >> weaker than for the parent registry--more so than one might think
> from
> >> just looking at the registry itself.
> >
> > I am not clear on why "Expert Review" is seen as a stronger review
> > criteria than "Specification Required" - which includes expert
review
> as
> > well as a requirement for a public specification.
> 
> Actually, "expert review" doesn't have to be stronger than
> specification required. But it can be. It's all a matter of how you
> define the review criteria. The difference is, in "expert review" you
> get to define the criteria. In "specification required", the criteria
> is already defined, and fairly limited.
> 
> RFC3563 has has quite strict criteria, thus my comment about it being
> "stronger". For all practical purposes, the policy for RFC 3563 is
> "standards action" with some very specific exceptions.
> 
> [...]
> 
> >>>
> >>> If the revised version of a GENINFO TLV is sent in an LSP with a
> >>> different number from the previous version there can be transient
> >>> windows where other systems have two copies of information
> regarding
> >> the
> >>> same application. This may be unavoidable. For completeness we
> >> specify
> >>> that the choice of what to do in such transient situations is
> >>> implementation specific (undefined). This section does specify
ways
> >> to
> >>> minimize the occurrence/duration of such transient periods.
> >>
> >> Does leaving this undefined cause interop issues? If not, then no
> >> problem.
> >
> > There is no alternative. It is not possible to determine in a
> reliable
> > way which copy is "newer".
> 
> Okay
> 
> [...]
> 
> 
> >>
> >> Since the registration policy is not at least "RFC Required",
> there's
> >> no explicit requirement that the public document actually do this.
> If
> >> you wish to require them to do it, you will need to state something
> to
> >> that effect. (See previous comment about whether the registration
> >> policy actually enforces that sort of criteria.)
> >
> > I appreciate your point - but I don't see how we have the authority
> to
> > place a requirement on a document developed in another standards
> body.
> >
> 
> You can set criteria for the codepoint allocation, though. Requiring
> the specification of a code point to address security seems to be a
> reasonable criteria.
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