Subject: Re: IETF culture, was Re: IETF meeting scaling:early schedules?

From: Bob Allisat <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 15:11:32 +0000

Jacob Palme wrote:
> In IETF we have much shorter sessions with the working groups, so 
> that people from one group can visit other groups. Even if these 
> visitors who have not "done their homework" should normally keep 
> quiet, I think they should be allowed to speak their mind, if they 
> feel the working group is going in a dangerously unsuitable direction.

 What opportunity are people given to voice their
 concerns about the entire direction of the IETF as
 a (corpulant and corrupt) whole? Seems like direction
 by subcommittee leads to authoritaranism from the
 central committee. Witness various "shunnings" and
 outright silencing of critic's articles and opines.
 There remains no core oversight, accountabilityt and
 veto authority of any even baguely democratic variety.
 Alas, as in all empires of the crumbling variety the
 last people to realize the imanent downfall are those
 who believe the most in their glorious realm. You
 there Fred? Time to cut me off permanently? Cheers!

 Bob Allisat _ [email-masked]

---

From: Pete Resnick <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:28:29 -0500

On 7/26/99 at 3:11 PM +0000, Bob Allisat wrote:

>What opportunity are people given to voice their concerns about the 
>entire direction of the IETF as a [unnecessary adjectives elided] 
>whole?

Responding to the one substantive part of your message: There are two 
perfectly reasonable places to voice your concerns about the entire 
direction of the IETF:

1. Join in (either in person or via multicast) at the plenary session 
at the IETF face-to-face meetings held 3 times per year. Especially 
in this forum, you will not only be able to give your feedback, but 
get direct immediate response from the IESG, the IAB, and the 
1000-2000 people who regularly attend. You can then quickly judge 
whether your concerns have the consensus needed to change the 
direction of the IETF.

2. There is a working group in the IETF devoted to the process of the 
IETF (which you should already know if you've reviewed the material 
on the IETF web site at www.ietf.org). If you have problems with the 
direction of the IETF, write yourself an Internet Draft, submit it, 
and ask for it to be on the agenda of that working group.

Now, do remember that voicing your concerns does not necessarily mean 
that the several thousand of us participating in the IETF will change 
the direction in accordance with your concerns; we may all be happy 
with the way it is. But you will be (and for that matter, have been) 
certainly given ample opportunity to voice those concerns.

pr
-- 
Pete Resnick <mailto:[email-masked]>
Eudora Engineering - QUALCOMM Incorporated
Ph: (217)337-6377 or (619)651-4478, Fax: (619)651-1102

---

From: Pete Resnick <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:28:29 -0500

pr