wdiff rfc8067.original rfc8067.txt

Network Working Group
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) B. Leiba
Internet-Draft
Request for Comments: 8067 Huawei Technologies
BCP: 97 January 2017
Updates: 3967 (if approved) December 09, 2016
Intended status:
Category: Best Current Practice
Expires: June 10, 2017
ISSN: 2070-1721

Updating when When Standards Track Documents may May Refer Normatively to
Documents at a Lower Level
draft-leiba-3967upd-downref-03

Abstract

RFC 3967 specifies a process for allowing normative references to
documents at lower maturity levels ("downrefs"), which involves
calling out the downref explicitly in the last call Last Call notice. That
requirement has proven to be unnecessarily strict, and this document
updates RFC 3967, allowing the IESG more flexibility in accepting
downrefs in Standards Track documents.

Status of this This Memo

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This Internet-Draft will expire on June 10, 2017.
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8067.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. The IESG's Responsibility with Respect to Downrefs . . . . . 2
3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1. Introduction

[RFC3967] notes the importance of assuring that normative references
from Standards Track and Best Current Practice (BCP) documents are
appropriately mature, and specifies a process for allowing normative
references to documents at lower maturity levels ("downrefs"). That
process starts at IETF Last Call (see Section 3 of [RFC3967]):

For Standards Track or BCP documents requiring normative reference
to documents of lower maturity, the normal IETF Last Call
procedure will be issued, with the need for the downward reference
explicitly documented in the Last Call itself. Any community
comments on the appropriateness of downward references will be
considered by the IESG as part of its deliberations.

Section 2 of [RFC3967] lists some conditions under which downrefs may
make sense. In addition to those, it has become common for working
groups to produce foundational documents at Informational status,
which (which contain important
information such as terminology definitions and architectural design
and considerations, considerations) at Informational status, and those documents are
often needed as normative references in the Standards Track protocol
documents that follow.

The requirement to explicitly mention the downrefs and the need for
them in the Last Call message has proven to be unnecessarily
restrictive,
restrictive and has often resulted in unnecessary repetitions of Last
Call, with the corresponding delay and with no real benefit.

2. The IESG's Responsibility with Respect to Downrefs

The process in RFC 3967 is hereby updated to specify that explicitly
documenting the downward references in the Last Call message is
strongly recommended, recommended but not required. The responsible AD should
still check for downrefs before sending out the last call Last Call notice, but
if an undetected downref is noticed during last call Last Call or IESG review,
any need to repeat the last call Last Call is at the discretion of the IESG.
However, the process in RFC 3967 is not fundamentally altered: If the
IESG decides not to repeat the last call, Last Call, the status of the affected
downrefs is not changed, and the process in RFC 3967 will still apply
if those downrefs are used in the future.

This gives the IESG the responsibility to determine the actual
maturity level of the downward reference with respect to the document
at hand, and to decide whether or not it is necessary to explicitly
ask the IETF community for comments on the downref on a case-by-case
basis. In making that decision, the IESG should take into account
the general discussion in RFC 3967. The responsible AD should make
sure that the omission is recorded as a comment in the datatracker.

3. IANA Considerations

There are no IANA considerations for this document.

4. Security Considerations

Referencing immature protocols can have security and stability
implications, and the IESG should take that into account when
deciding whether re-consulting the community is useful.

4. Normative References

[RFC3967] Bush, R. and T. Narten, "Clarifying when Standards Track
Documents may Refer Normatively to Documents at a Lower
Level", BCP 97, RFC 3967, DOI 10.17487/RFC3967, December
2004, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3967>.

Author's Address

Barry Leiba
Huawei Technologies

Phone: +1 646 827 0648
Email: barryleiba@computer.org
URI: http://internetmessagingtechnology.org/