Subject: Clarifying the state of and the transition plan for tools.ietf.org

From: Robert Sparks <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2021 12:16:01 -0600

The services at tools.ietf.org are undergoing a transition.

As most of you know Henrik Levkowetz has retired. He is continuing to 
support
the services that he has provided for decades at tools.ietf.org on a best
effort basis as we transition the essential features to LLC supported
platforms. The plan is to finish the transition before IETF 111 and wind
tools.ietf.org down.

The process of moving these features has been ongoing for several years.
Most have already been moved, but a few important ones remain.

We have recently moved the tools.ietf.org style of presenting htmlized text
documents into the Datatracker. The plan is to redirect those pages from
tools.ietf.org into the Datatracker soon.

We will be replacing the online xml2rfc and bibxml services with modern
rewrites of the existing services.

We are transitioning the svn/trac source repositories for the Datatracker
and xml2rfc to the IETF Secretariat, with a longer term goal of moving them
to GitHub.

At the beginning of this meeting, we identified that the ability to add to
individual sessions (as opposed to all sessions of a group) to a 
subscribable
calendar needs to be added to the Datatracker.

We will look again to identify any other features that need to be moved. 
But as
you notice features at tools.ietf.org that are important but can't find 
at the
Datatracker, please send a note either to me or to [email-masked].

Henrik and I communicate frequently, and he is supporting us with this
transition on a best effort basis, but tools.ietf.org is not getting as 
much of
his time as we have become accustomed to in the past. Please be patient 
with us
during the next few months.

As you identify issues with tools.ietf.org, please email Henrik or let 
me know,
and I will bring them to Henrik's attention.  In general, neither the IETF
Secretariat nor the tools team can address issues at tools.ietf.org 
directly.
Our focus will be on moving functionality to platforms like the Datatracker.

I would like to express my gratitude for all of the support Henrik has 
provided
to the community over the last couple of decades. Early on, long before we
started projects like the Datatracker, he set up several tools on his 
own that
became very popular with the community. During this time, the domain 
tools.ietf.org
was delegated to him, and he used it to gather the volunteer created 
tooling from
many contributors.

As the community grew, we began hosting more services at the IETF 
Secretariat.
During Russ Housley's tenure as IETF Chair, the tools team, under the IOAC's
direction, began moving essential services to IETF Secretariat-supported
platforms. Through donated and contracted time, Henrik has been helping make
these transitions as an ongoing process. But tools.ietf.org continued to 
be a
set of services that he maintained and improved primarily by himself or 
through
coordinating other volunteer effort.

Of course, Henrik was also a principal architect and contributor for the
Datatracker and xml2rfc, and we are richer for all of his hard work over
decades on so many tools.

--

Robert Sparks

Tools Team chair

---

From: Keith Moore <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 00:47:29 -0500

Robert,

Reading your note I find myself wondering: Is IETF deliberately trying 
to discourage its participants from building tools to help them do IETF 
work?

thanks,

Keith

> The services at tools.ietf.org are undergoing a transition.

[etc]

---

From: Julian Reschke <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 08:17:22 +0100

> to discourage its participants from building tools to help them do IETF

What precisely in Robert's mail makes you ask that?

Best regards, Julian

---

From: Keith Moore <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2021 21:21:43 -0500

> What precisely in Robert's mail makes you ask that? 
Never ask an intuitive to explain precisely what makes them ask a 
question ...

Of course it's not only that email that makes me ask, but other signs 
I've seen for awhile.

It's a simple question, which I hope has a simple answer.

Keith

---

From: "John Levine" <[email-masked]>
Date: 10 Mar 2021 22:19:46 -0500

>It's a simple question, which I hope has a simple answer.

Oh, okay: No.

HTH, HAND,
John