GenDispatch B. E. Carpenter Internet-Draft Univ. of Auckland Intended status: Informational 24 September 2024 Expires: 28 March 2025 Organization of IETF Process Documents draft-carpenter-gendispatch-org-proc-docs-00 Abstract This document suggests that the IETF's many documents related to process and procedures need to be better organized, and suggests a possible framework for this. About This Document This note is to be removed before publishing as an RFC. Status information for this document may be found at https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-carpenter-gendispatch-org- proc-docs/. Discussion of this document takes place on the GenDispatch Working Group mailing list (mailto:GenDispatch@ietf.org), which is archived at https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/gendispatch/. Subscribe at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/GenDispatch/. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire on 28 March 2025. Carpenter Expires 28 March 2025 [Page 1] Internet-Draft Process Document Organization September 2024 Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2024 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/ license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Appendix A. Change Log [RFC Editor: please remove] . . . . . . . 4 A.1. Draft-00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Introduction The IETF has a large number of documents (mainly RFCs) devoted to its standard process, its rules and procedures in general, and how it does its work. Some of these are BCPs, some of them are Informational RFCs, with occasional Experimental RFCs. In addition there are IESG Statements for specific topics, summaries of processes and procedures on the IETF web site, presentations made at IETF meetings or in educational material, snippets in email archives, unwritten rules, and external information such as this (https://sphericalcowconsulting.com/2024/09/20/more-on-standards- development/). At a rough estimate, to have a complete understanding of IETF processes and procedures, a person would need to consult about 65 BCPs and RFCs -- there is an out of date list (https://www.ietf.org/process/informal/). There are also at least 30 relevant IESG statements. Carpenter Expires 28 March 2025 [Page 2] Internet-Draft Process Document Organization September 2024 This situation is clearly problematic: obviously it is a stumbling block for newcomers, and even for people with years of IETF participation it can be a source of confusion, mistakes, and wasted time. This draft suggests that at the very least, the IETF needs an organizing principle for its process and procedural documents. Beyond that it seems desirable to start a project, which would take many years to complete, of consolidating documents (where that is feasible) and ensuring that they fit together into a common framework that will help newcomers and experienced participants alike. [I-D.rsalz-2026bis] and [I-D.rsalz-2418bis] are good examples of such consolidation. This document suggests an outline of a framework within which such consolidated documents could exist. It is not expected that this draft will become an RFC. 2. Framework The following list of topics is only a suggestion. The idea is that process documents would be organized to fit into one of these topics, with as little overlap as possible. * Workflow in the IETF * Bodies involved in the process * Document types * Standards track documents * Review and approval process * Intellectual Property Rights * Conduct of participants * Publication process (RFC Editor) * Parameter registration process (IANA) * Meetings * Administration and support * Process for modifying process and procedures Carpenter Expires 28 March 2025 [Page 3] Internet-Draft Process Document Organization September 2024 3. IANA Considerations No IANA actions are needed. 4. Security Considerations This document does not directly affect the security of the Internet. 5. Acknowledgements Useful comments were received from ... 6. Informative References [I-D.rsalz-2026bis] Salz, R. and S. O. Bradner, "The Internet Standards Process", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-rsalz- 2026bis-10, 5 September 2024, . [I-D.rsalz-2418bis] Salz, R. and S. O. Bradner, "IETF Working Group Guidelines and Procedures", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft- rsalz-2418bis-05, 9 September 2024, . Appendix A. Change Log [RFC Editor: please remove] A.1. Draft-00 * Original version Author's Address Brian E. Carpenter The University of Auckland School of Computer Science The University of Auckland PB 92019 Auckland 1142 New Zealand Email: brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Carpenter Expires 28 March 2025 [Page 4]