Re: The RSE's perspective

[Mike StJohns <mstjohns@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 25, 2019, at 17:01, Ted Hardie <ted.ietf@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, Jun 25, 2019 at 1:39 PM Randy Bush <randy@xxxxxxx> wrote:

For those who have not had to look it all up recently, the IAB's role here has evolved as the RFC Editor model has evolved, but the appointment function goes back to at least RFC 1358 (see section 8) in 1992.  That was adjusted slightly in RFC 1601 when NomCom appointments were introduced (the RFC Editor text is in Section 2, subsection d) in 1994.  It was also described in RFC 2850, (again in Section 2 d) in 2000.  All of the updates which relate to looking at the series as a set of streams are in the RFC model documents (RFC 5620 and RFC 6635) whose initial publication was in 2009 and update in 2012. 

Just because the IAB said it was so, doesn’t mean it was true.  In 1992, the RFC series was work product of ISI and wholly funded by the US Govt in the form of contracts from NSF and DARPA ( and in fact a contract funded by my program at DARPA).  I know for a fact that funding continued at least until 1996 or later.  

The IAB had no power to appoint an RFC editor, nor did anyone in the I* community until ISI ceded control of the series near the end of Bob and Joyce’s tenure at the communities request.  I’m pretty sure ISI would have laughed at such an attempt.  

What the document should have said that would have been true is that the IAB could select the publication path for I* related documents.  That’s still true today.   

That said, Jon was as agreeable a person as anyone I’ve ever met.  Had the IAB tried to claim ownership of the series, I’m sure he probably would have handed it off with his best wishes for success and a suggestion of where to find funding.   We’re fortunate that the IAB of that period had more sense.  

Mike

regards,

Ted Hardie