Subject: Notes from the IETF/IESG/IAB Plenaries

From: "Lisa Dusseault" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 20:04:25 -0800

There has been a lot of discussion at this IETF and the last one about
how to "fix" the IETF.  I'd like to pass on some of the things
(complaints, suggestions) I've heard at the plenaries since most of you
are missing this.

 - Documents that go to last call must be higher quality.  There will be
a bigger checklist with more stringent enforcement. Dot all i's.
 - Documents should be in a different format (one that it is easier to
track changes, do algorithmic verification of checklist nits)
 - Don't do research; solve engineering problems.
 - Stay on a tightly defined charter. Use it to say "no" to new work. 
 - Keep charter milestones up to date. [any volunteers for this wg?]
 - Rough consensus doesn't mean "compromise". Don't compromise on good
design.
 - Chairs should be less nice.  Make sure the right thing gets done
rather than that people are happy and there is no conflict.  Enforce
quality.
 - Communicate with other WGs/ADs to avoid surprises in last call.
 - IAB needs to talk more about overall complicated architectures.
 - IESG needs to delegate more and identify problems earlier.
 - Transparency is good (and is increasing -- see ID tracker)

Some links for more info:
The ID tracker:
  <https://datatracker.ietf.org/public/pidtracker.cgi>
Some IETF 55 presentations: 
  <http://www.alvestrand.no/ietf/ietf55/>
Instructions to RFC editors:
 
<http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-rfc-editor-rfc2223bis-03.txt>
A proposal to improve IETF productivity: 
  <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-huston-ietf-pact-00.txt>
Security mechanisms for the Internet:
  <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-iab-secmech-01.txt>
Guidelines for writing security considerations:
  <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-iab-sec-cons-01.txt>
Toward a quantitative analysis of IETF productivity:
  <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-iab-sec-cons-01.txt>
General architectural and policy considerations:
  <http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-iab-considerations-03.txt>
Some internet architectural guidelines and philosophy
 
<http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ymbk-arch-guidelines-05.txt>

Lisa