Subject: [midcom] Update

From: Melinda Shore <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 10:49:09 -0500

1) We've completed working group last call on the framework draft
   without finding any serious problems, so the document is going to
   be handed over for IESG review.  Many thanks to Suresh and the
   other authors.
2) The requirements document is also in working group last call.  
   WG last call ends on Monday, 10 December.
3) The pre-midcom discussion has generally been not that productive.
   I think that perhaps it might be more useful if people who are not
   authors on any of the proposed protocols could start identifying
   issues they feel need to be addressed.  One which will bear some
   consideration is whether or not the document which contains 
   encumbered technology is sufficiently superior to the other proposals
   to be able to be considered a candidate under IETF guidelines.
4) We're going to be discussing rechartering at the upcoming IETF
   meeting.  The new charter would be focused on protocol development.
   Presumably, following the patterns in other working groups such as
   AAA, there would be an effort to produce a document discussing
   the suitability of various existing protocols and drawing comparisons
   among them, followed by a decision to select one as a base protocol,
   followed by actual protocol development.  I would very much hate to
   see the working group sidetracked by pre-midcom discussions.
5) I'm throwing a monkey wrench into (4) by asking the working group to
   consider not following the model described in the framework and
   requirements drafts.  In draft-shore-friendly-midcom-00.txt I describe
   a framework for middlebox communication that solves the topology-
   related problems that have plagued us since the outset, that 
   provides a better model for inter-domain operation, that can work
   with multicast, that makes use of the existing IP routing infrastructure,
   that has better security properties, and that I feel is more 
   architecturally sound.  My intent here is not to sandbag the working
   group but to try to make sure that we don't allow procedural rigidity
   to prevent us from doing the right thing technically.  

Melinda

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