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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 Old Dog Consulting 4 Intended status: Informational March 8, 2021 5 Expires: September 9, 2021 7 A Definition of the Term "Soon" for Use in Discussions with Working 8 Group Chairs and Area Directors 9 draft-farrel-soon-07 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 Status of This Memo 20 This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the 21 provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. 23 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 24 Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute 25 working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- 26 Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 28 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months 29 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any 30 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference 31 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." 33 This Internet-Draft will expire on September 9, 2021. 35 Copyright Notice 37 Copyright (c) 2021 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the 38 document authors. All rights reserved. 40 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal 41 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents 42 (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of 43 publication of this document. Please review these documents 44 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect 45 to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must 46 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of 47 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as 48 described in the Simplified BSD License. 50 Table of Contents 52 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 53 1.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 54 2. We Are All Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 55 3. The Kompella Time-Dilation Effect (KTDE) . . . . . . . . . . 3 56 4. Possible Interpretation of the Term 'Soon' . . . . . . . . . 3 57 5. Optimism Is the Curse of the Drinking Man . . . . . . . . . . 4 58 6. Towards A Definitive Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 59 7. Guidance in the Use of This Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 60 7.1. Temporal or Meta-Temporal Applicability . . . . . . . . . 5 61 8. Boilerplate for Inclusion in All Communications . . . . . . . 5 62 9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 63 10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 64 10.1. Privacy Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 65 11. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 66 12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 67 12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 68 12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 69 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 71 1. Introduction 73 In everyday exchanges between IETF participants and those with IETF 74 management roles (for example, Area Directors and Working Group 75 Chairs) commitments are often made to deliver actions. 77 For example, a Working Group Chair may say "I will issue a working 78 group last call on this document," or an Area Director could say "I 79 will process your publication request and review your document." 80 Alternatively, a document author might say "I will produce a new 81 revision of this document," and a participant sometimes says "I will 82 provide more details / suggested text / a follow-up review." 84 In all of these interactions it is common for the speaker to offer 85 some expected completion time for the action. Sometimes this is 86 expressed in elapsed time (for example, "I will do this within the 87 next two lunar cycles"), frequently it is stated with reference to an 88 absolute point in time (such as, "I will do this by the third Sunday 89 in Lent"), but usually the qualifier applied is "Soon." 91 Frustration and disappointment are common currency in the modern 92 world, but there is no need for the IETF to add to this state of 93 affairs. Nor should the IETF be responsible for increasing cynicism 94 and jaundiced pessimism. Therefore, this document attempts to 95 provide a definition of the term "Soon" so that common expectations 96 may be realistically set. 98 1.1. Requirements Language 100 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", 101 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and 102 "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 103 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all 104 capitals, as shown here. 106 2. We Are All Volunteers 108 It is a commonly held belief that in the IETF, "We are all 109 volunteers." Even those of us who are paid to do our jobs are 110 confident that we are only working out of the goodness of our hearts 111 and that our salaries are but poor recompense for our daily travails. 113 And, of course, it is well known that you cannot induce a volunteer 114 to do anything that might interfere with their otherwise compulsory 115 activities of looking at pictures of cats, creating memes, or pipe- 116 smoking. Therefore, it is highly inappropriate for this document to 117 make any attempt to constrain anyone into giving a meaningful 118 delivery date for any action that they promise. To that end it is 119 expected that this document will be withdrawn and a fulsome apology 120 issued soon. 122 3. The Kompella Time-Dilation Effect (KTDE) 124 When serving as co-chair of the CCAMP working Group, Kireeti Kompella 125 was often called to account for not offering a completion date for 126 tasks to which he committed. 128 After wise consideration of this situation, Kireeti would offer an 129 answer such as "I will do this before the end of June," and everyone 130 would go away content. It was only as July gave way to August and 131 then to September, and when the mists drifted into the orchards 132 adding dampness to the smell of unpicked fruit rotting on the trees, 133 that Kireeti would explain that he had failed to indicate to which 134 year he was referring. 136 In cases of high residual KTDE, the use of the term "Soon" would 137 better set expectations, and Kireeti has given an undertaking to 138 transition to this term by the end of the second quarter. 140 4. Possible Interpretation of the Term 'Soon' 142 Many learned articles have been written on possible interpretation of 143 the term "Soon." No doubt the author will add citations and 144 references soon. 146 Readers should note that "SOON" is also an FLA [RFC5513] although has 147 not yet been registered as such by IANA. This document has not 148 (noticeably) been endorsed by the Standards Organisation of any 149 nation state. 151 5. Optimism Is the Curse of the Drinking Man 153 The software industry is infamous for its inability to provide 154 reliable estimates for development projects. No-one is quite sure 155 why this should be. Is it because troops of evil mice come into the 156 workshop late at night, while the cobbler is asleep in his bed 157 alongside his long-suffering wife, and unpick the seams of carefully 158 constructed function calls? Is it because coders make it all up as 159 they go along and have no idea what they are doing? Or is it a 160 coincidence that sotware is so appropriately spelled? 162 IETF working group milestones (or "millstones" as they are more 163 correctly termed) are commonly held in disrepute. They are certainly 164 not dates that anyone has ever been held to, and inspection of most 165 working group charters will show that either the chairs intend 166 employing time travel or that no one pays any attention to the 167 milestones. It may be because Area Directors often say to working 168 group chairs that, "Milestones are just a tool for you to manage the 169 working group," or it may be because no one likes a bully. 171 These two factors obviously contribute to an environment in which the 172 term "Soon" has little or no currency except as padding to fill an 173 awkward gap between a promise and the full stop at the end of the 174 sentence. 176 None of which is intended to imply that: 178 o Women don't drink 180 o Women are less optimistic than men 182 o Women are more optimistic than men 184 6. Towards A Definitive Meaning 186 The purpose of this document is to provide a working definition of 187 the term "Soon" so that parsers of IETF communications may reasonably 188 understand the meaning, and so that a degree of linguistic 189 interoperability between speakers may be achieved. The following 190 definition applies: 192 SOON This word, or the adverb "SHORTLY", means that an item is 193 truly OPTIONAL. One IETF participant may choose to deliver the 194 item because a particular marketplace requires it or because the 195 participant feels that it enhances their reputation, while another 196 participant may omit to deliver the same item. A participant who 197 does not deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to continue to 198 work with with another participant who does deliver the item, 199 though perhaps with reduced credulity. In the same vein, a 200 participant who does deliver a particular item MUST be prepared to 201 continue to work with another participant who does not deliver the 202 item, though perhaps with less respect (except, of course, for 203 communications about the feature the item provides). 205 TOO LATE This phrase, and the phrase "NEVER MORE", means that 206 the optimality of an item has been pushed to its limit, and then 207 slightly further. For the benefit of everyone, once one of these 208 phrases has been used in a communication, all work on the 209 referenced deliverable SHOULD be halted and all further discussion 210 SHOULD be transmitted as silence and MUST be ignored on receipt. 211 Document authors MAY choose to ignore either of these terms, but 212 they do so at the risk of their immortal souls. Further guidance 213 on this issue can be obtained from your moral guardian, your 214 household gods, or from any member of the IMM (Internet Moral 215 Majority) [RFC4041]. 217 The term "TOO LATE" and the term "NEVER MORE" and not to be confused 218 with [LATE] or [CROAK]. 220 7. Guidance in the Use of This Term 222 Terms of the type defined in this memo must be used with care and 223 sparingly. In particular, they MUST only be used where it is 224 actually required for explanation of when a deliverable will arrive 225 or to limit behavior which has potential for causing harm (e.g., 226 limiting retransmissions of requests for action). For example, they 227 MUST NOT be used to try to impose a particular schedule on 228 participants where the schedule is not required for anything other 229 than vanity. 231 7.1. Temporal or Meta-Temporal Applicability 233 All uses of the term "SOON" made on April 1st SHOULD be treated with 234 caution. 236 8. Boilerplate for Inclusion in All Communications 238 In many IETF communications a word is often used to signify the 239 proximity of an event described in the communication. This word is 240 often capitalized. This document defines this word as it should be 241 interpreted in IETF communications. Authors who follow these 242 guidelines SHOULD incorporate this phrase near the beginning of their 243 communication: 245 The key words "SOON", "SHORTLY", "TOO LATE", and "NEVER MORE" in 246 this communication are to be interpreted as described in 247 [This.I-D]. 249 Contrary to the overweening pedantry of [RFC8174], words used in this 250 document mean what they say regardless of what font they are in and 251 notwithstanding the color in which they are rendered. 253 To quote from Through the Looking Class by Charles Dodgson: 255 "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 256 "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." 258 "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so 259 many different things." 261 "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - 262 that's all." 264 Thus, the term "Soon" is as meaningful when it is presented in 265 "uppercase" as it is when found in "LOWERCASE". 267 9. IANA Considerations 269 This document makes no request for any IANA actions. 271 10. Security Considerations 273 Just say no! 275 Further security consideration will be added to this document SOON. 277 10.1. Privacy Considerations 279 See "Author's Address" Section. 281 11. Acknowledgements 283 Kireeti Kompella reminded me of millstones and corrected my grammar. 285 Thanks to John Scudder for his own overweening pedantry. 287 Benoit Claise supplied comments NOT BEFORE TIME. 289 12. References 291 12.1. Normative References 293 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 294 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, 295 DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, 296 . 298 [RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 299 2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174, 300 May 2017, . 302 12.2. Informative References 304 [CROAK] Poe, E., "The Raven", Poem, Ink on Vellum, 1845, 305 . 307 [LATE] Windus, W., "Too Late", Painting, Oil on Canvas, 1858, 308 . 311 [RFC4041] Farrel, A., "Requirements for Morality Sections in Routing 312 Area Drafts", RFC 4041, DOI 10.17487/RFC4041, April 2005, 313 . 315 [RFC5513] Farrel, A., "IANA Considerations for Three Letter 316 Acronyms", RFC 5513, DOI 10.17487/RFC5513, April 2009, 317 . 319 Author's Address 321 Adrian Farrel 322 Old Dog Consulting 324 Email: adrian@olddog.co.uk