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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-01 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. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 70 12. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 71 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 73 1. Introduction 75 In everyday exchanges between IETF participants and those with IETF 76 management roles (for example, Area Directors and Working Group 77 Chairs) commitments are often made to deliver actions. 79 For example, a Working Group Chair may say "I will issue a working 80 group last call on this document," or an Area Director could say "I 81 will process your publication request and review your document." 82 Alternatively, a document author might say "I will produce a new 83 revision of this document," and a participant sometimes says "I will 84 provide more details / suggested text / a follow-up review." 86 In all of these interactions it is common for the speaker to offer 87 some expected completion time for the action. Sometimes this is 88 expressed in elapsed time (for example, "I will do this within the 89 next two lunar cycles"), frequently it is stated with reference to an 90 absolute point in time (such as, "I will do this by the third Sunday 91 in Lent"), but usually the qualifier applied is "Soon." 93 Frustration and disappointment are common currency in the modern 94 world, but there is no need for the IETF to add to this state of 95 affairs. Nor should the IETF be responsible for increasing cynicism 96 and jaundiced pessimism. Therefore, this document attempts to 97 provide a definition of the term "Soon" so that common expectations 98 may be realistically set. 100 2. We Are All Volunteers 102 It is a commonly held belief that in the IETF "we are all 103 volunteers." Even those of us who are paid to do our jobs are 104 confident that we are only working out of the goodness of our hearts 105 and that our salaries are poor recompense for our daily travails. 107 And, of course, it is well known that you cannot induce a volunteer 108 to do anything that might interfere with their otherwise compulsory 109 activities of looking at pictures of cats, creating memes, or pipe- 110 smoking. Therefore, it is highly inappropriate for this document to 111 make any attempt to constrain anyone into giving a meaningful 112 delivery date for any action that they promise. To that end it is 113 expected that this document will be withdrawn and a fulsome apology 114 issued soon. 116 3. The Kompella Time-Dilation Effect 118 When serving as co-chair of the CCAMP working Group, Kireeti Kompella 119 was often called to account for not offering a completion date for 120 tasks to which he committed. 122 After wise consideration of this situation, Kireeti would offer an 123 answer such as "I will do this before the end of June," and everyone 124 would go away content. It was only as July gave way to August that 125 Kireeti would explain that he had failed to indicate to which year he 126 was referring. 128 In such cases of high residual KTDE, use of the term "Soon" would 129 better set expectations, and Kireeti has given an undertaking to 130 transition to this term by the end of the second quarter. 132 4. Possible Interpretation of the Term 'Soon' 134 Many learned articles have been written on possible interpretation of 135 the term "Soon". No doubt the author will add citations and 136 references one day soon. 138 5. Optimism Is the Curse of the Drinking Man 140 The software industry is infamous for its inability to provide 141 reliable estimates for development projects. No-one is quite sure 142 why this should be. Is it because troops of evil mice come into the 143 workshop late at night while the cobbler is asleep in his bed 144 alongside his long-suffering wife and unpick the seams of carefully 145 constructed function calls? Is it because coders make it all up as 146 they go along and have no idea what they are doing? And is it a 147 coincidence that sotware is so appropriately spelled? 149 IETF working group milestones (or "millstones" as they are more 150 correctly termed) are commonly held in disrepute. They are certainly 151 not dates that anyone had ever been held to, and inspection of most 152 working group charters will show that either the chairs intend 153 employing time travel or that no one pays any attention to the 154 milestones. It may be because Area Directors often say to working 155 group chairs that "milestones are just a tool for you to manage the 156 working group", or it may be because no one likes a bully. 158 These two factors obviously contribute to an environment in which the 159 term "soon" has little or no currency except as padding to fill an 160 awkward gap between a promise and the full stop at the end of the 161 sentence. 163 None of which is intended to imply that: 165 o Women don't drink 167 o Women are less optimistic than men 169 o Women are more optimistic than men 171 6. Towards A Definitive Meaning 173 The purpose of this document is to provide a working definition of 174 the term "soon" so that parsers of IETF communications may reasonably 175 understand the meaning and so that a degree of linguistic 176 interoperability between speakers may be achieved. The following 177 definition applies: 179 SOON This word, or the adverb "SHORTLY", mean that an item is 180 truly optional. One IETF participant may choose to deliver the 181 item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the 182 participant feels that it enhances their reputation while another 183 participant may omit to deliver the same item. A participant who 184 does not deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to continue to 185 work with with another participant who does deliver the item, 186 though perhaps with reduced credulity. In the same vein, a 187 participant who does deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to 188 continue to work with another participant who does not include the 189 item, though perhaps with less respect (except, of course, for 190 communications about the feature the item provides). 192 7. Guidance in the Use of This Term 194 Terms of the type defined in this memo must be used with care and 195 sparingly. In particular, they MUST only be used where it is 196 actually required for explanation of when a deliverable will arrive 197 or to limit behavior which has potential for causing harm (e.g., 198 limiting retransmissions of requests for action). For example, they 199 MUST NOT be used to try to impose a particular schedule on 200 participants where the schedule is not required for anything other 201 than vanity. 203 8. Boilerplate for Inclusion in All Communications 205 In many IETF communications a word is often used to signify the 206 proximity of an event described in the communication. This word is 207 often capitalized. This document defines this word as it should be 208 interpreted in IETF communications. Authors who follow these 209 guidelines should incorporate this phrase near the beginning of their 210 communication: 212 The key word "SOON" in this communication is to be interpreted as 213 described in [This.I-D]. 215 9. IANA Considerations 217 This document makes no request for any IANA actions. 219 10. Security Considerations 221 Just say no! 223 Further security consideration will be added to this document SOON. 225 10.1. Privacy Considerations 227 See "Author's Address" Section. 229 11. Acknowledgements 231 Kireeti Kompella reminded me of millstones and corrected my grammar. 233 12. Normative References 235 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 236 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, 237 DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, 238 . 240 Author's Address 242 Adrian Farrel 243 Juniper Networks 245 Email: afarrel@juniper.net