Re: An IETF working group for HTTP?

Dave Crocker (dcrocker@mordor.stanford.edu)
Fri, 23 Sep 1994 18:26:51 +0200

I strongly support your suggestion. I will be delighted to assist in the
charter-writing.

I also concur with the followup suggestion that we not wait until December.
Working group chartering and activity has NO requirement for being
synchronized with IETF meetings. It can all happen electronically. The
meetings are a matter of convenience and efficiency, only.

As to the choice between documenting what is, versus pursuing enhancements,
I suggest that we start by documenting what is, since the protocol is well
established and has a large installed base. The formal nicity of deciding
whether to standardize it directly and THEN pursue enhancements, versus
jumping directly to standardizing enhancements, without stopping to
standardize current practise, seems to depend most on the stability of the
current use and the pressure for enhancements.

My own opinion is that the most expeditious path is to document the current
practise and publish it as one or more Informational RFCs, rather than
pursue standardization. If we standardize the current practise, we really
can't make any standards-track changes for about a year. The pressure for
enhancements is pretty strong, as I read it.

By the way, I think your list of work to do looks pretty good.

d/

--------------------
Dave Crocker
Brandenburg Consulting Phone: +1 408 246 8253
675 Spruce Dr. Fax: +1 408 249 6205
Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Email: dcrocker@mordor.stanford.edu