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Checking references for intended status: Informational ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- No issues found here. Summary: 0 errors (**), 0 flaws (~~), 1 warning (==), 1 comment (--). Run idnits with the --verbose option for more detailed information about the items above. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Internet Engineering Task Force A. Farrel 3 Internet-Draft Juniper Networks 4 Intended status: Informational February 14, 2017 5 Expires: August 18, 2017 7 A Definition of the Term "Soon" for Use in Discussions with Working 8 Group Chairs and Area Directors 9 draft-farrel-soon-00 11 Abstract 13 Many discussions with IETF Area Directors and Working Group Chairs 14 utilize the word "soon" to qualify a commitment to action. This 15 document attempts to provide a definition of that term so that common 16 expectations may be realistically set. 18 Requirements Language 20 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", 21 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this 22 document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. 24 Status of This Memo 26 This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the 27 provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. 29 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 30 Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute 31 working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- 32 Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 34 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 35 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 36 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 37 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 39 This Internet-Draft will expire on August 18, 2017. 41 Copyright Notice 43 Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the 44 document authors. All rights reserved. 46 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal 47 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents 48 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of 49 publication of this document. Please review these documents 50 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect 51 to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must 52 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of 53 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as 54 described in the Simplified BSD License. 56 Table of Contents 58 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 59 2. We Are All Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 60 3. The Kompella Time-Dilation Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 61 4. Possible Interpretation of the Term 'Soon' . . . . . . . . . 3 62 5. Optimism Is the Curse of the Drinking Man . . . . . . . . . . 3 63 6. Towards A Definitive Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 64 7. Guidance in the Use of This Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 65 8. Boilerplate for Inclusion in All Communications . . . . . . . 5 66 9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 67 10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 68 10.1. Privacy Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 69 11. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 70 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 72 1. Introduction 74 In everyday exchanges between IETF participants and those with IETF 75 management roles (for example, Area Directors and Working Group 76 Chairs) commitments are often made to deliver actions. 78 For example, a Working Group Chair may say "I will issue a working 79 group last call on this document," or an Area Director could say "I 80 will process your publication request and review your document." 81 Alternatively, a document author might say "I will produce a new 82 revision of this document," and a participant sometimes says "I will 83 provide more details / suggested text / a follow-up review." 85 In all of these interactions it is common for the speaker to offer 86 some expected completion time for the action. Sometimes this is 87 expressed in elapsed time (for example, "I will do this within the 88 next two lunar cycles"), frequently it is stated with reference to an 89 absolute point in time (such as, "I will do this by the third Sunday 90 in Lent"), but usually the qualifier applied is "Soon." 92 Frustration and disappointment are common currency in the modern 93 world, but there is no need for the IETF to add to this state of 94 affairs. Nor should the IETF be responsible for increasing cynicism 95 and jaundiced pessimism. Therefore, this document attempts to 96 provide a definition of the term "Soon" so that common expectations 97 may be realistically set. 99 2. We Are All Volunteers 101 It is a commonly held belief that in the IETF "we are all 102 volunteers." Even those of us who are paid to do our jobs are 103 confident that we are only working out of the goodness of our hearts 104 and that our salaries are poor recompense for our daily travails. 106 And, of course, it is well known that you cannot induce a volunteer 107 to do anything that might interfere with their otherwise compulsory 108 activities of looking at pictures of cats, creating memes, or pipe- 109 smoking. Therefore, it is highly inappropriate for this document to 110 make any attempt to constrain anyone into giving a meaningful 111 delivery date for any action that they promise. To that end it is 112 expected that this document will be withdrawn and a fulsome apology 113 issued soon. 115 3. The Kompella Time-Dilation Effect 117 When serving as co-chair of the CCAMP working Group, Kireeti Kompella 118 was often called to account for not offering a completion date for 119 tasks to which he committed. 121 After wise consideration of this situation, Kireeti would offer an 122 answer such as "I will do this before the end of June," and everyone 123 would go away content. It was only as July gave way to August that 124 Kireeti would explain that he had failed to indicate to which year he 125 was referring. 127 In such cases of high residual KTDE, use of the term "Soon" would 128 better set expectation, and Kireeti has given an undertaking to 129 transition to this term by the end of the second quarter. 131 4. Possible Interpretation of the Term 'Soon' 133 Many learned articles have been written on possible interpretation of 134 the term "Soon". No doubt the author will add citations and 135 references one day soon. 137 5. Optimism Is the Curse of the Drinking Man 139 The software industry is infamous for its inability to provide 140 reliable estimates for development projects. No-one is quite sure 141 why this should be. Is it because troops of evil mice come into the 142 workshop late at night while the cobbler is asleep in his bed 143 alongside his long-suffering wife and unpick the seams of carefully 144 constructed function calls? Is it because coders make it all up as 145 they go along and have no idea what they are doing? And is it a 146 coincidence that sotware is so appropriately spelled? 148 IETF working group milestones are commonly held in disrepute. They 149 are certainly not dates that anyone had ever been held to, and 150 inspection of most working group charters will show that either the 151 chairs intend employing time travel or that no one pays any attention 152 to the milestones. It may be because Area Directors often say to 153 working group chairs that "milestones are just a tool for you to 154 manage the working group", or it may be because no one likes a bully. 156 These two factors obviously contribute to an environment in which the 157 term "soon" has little or no currency except as padding to fill an 158 awkward gap between a promise and the full stop at the end of the 159 sentence. 161 None of which is intended to imply that: 163 o Women don't drink 165 o Women are less optimistic than men 167 o Women are less more optimistic than men 169 6. Towards A Definitive Meaning 171 The purpose of this document is to provide a working definition of 172 the term "soon" so that parsers of IETF communications may reasonably 173 understand the meaning and so that a degree of linguistic 174 interoperability between speakers may be achieved. The following 175 definition applies: 177 SOON This word, or the adjective "SHORTLY", mean that an item is 178 truly optional. One IETF participant may choose to deliver the 179 item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the 180 participant feels that it enhances their reputation while another 181 participant may omit to deliver the same item. A participant who 182 does not deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to continue to 183 work with with another participant who does deliver the item, 184 though perhaps with reduced credulity. In the same vein, a 185 participant who does deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to 186 continue to work with another participant who does not include the 187 item, though perhaps with less respect (except, of course, for 188 communications about the feature the item provides). 190 7. Guidance in the Use of This Term 192 Terms of the type defined in this memo must be used with care and 193 sparingly. In particular, they MUST only be used where it is 194 actually required for explanation of when a deliverable will arrive 195 or to limit behavior which has potential for causing harm (e.g., 196 limiting retransmissions of requests for action). For example, they 197 MUST NOT be used to try to impose a particular schedule on 198 participants where the schedule is not required for anything other 199 than vanity. 201 8. Boilerplate for Inclusion in All Communications 203 In many IETF communications a word is often used to signify the 204 proximity of an event described in the communication. This word is 205 often capitalized. This document defines this word as it should be 206 interpreted in IETF communications. Authors who follow these 207 guidelines should incorporate this phrase near the beginning of their 208 communication: 210 The key word "SOON" in this communication is to be interpreted as 211 described in [This.I-D]. 213 9. IANA Considerations 215 This document makes no request for any IANA actions. 217 10. Security Considerations 219 Just say no! 221 Further security consideration will be added to this document SOON. 223 10.1. Privacy Considerations 225 See "Author's Address" Section. 227 11. Normative References 229 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 230 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, 231 DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, 232 . 234 Author's Address 236 Adrian Farrel 237 Juniper Networks 239 Email: afarrel@juniper.net