Subject: [Rfced-future] A few comments

From: S Moonesamy <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 06 May 2020 19:10:32 -0700

Hello,

I was reading some comments about what can be published as a RFC.  A 
few years back, I reviewed a document which became RFC 7704.  One of 
the questions which I considered was whether it fits within the RFC 
Series.  It wasn't what would the usual technical document.  I spent 
some time discussing that with authors and make a recommendation.

Around a year ago, I commented about another document which became 
RFC 8280.  The document was about other technical 
documents.  However, it was not the usual technical document.

I would put the two above-mentioned examples to exceptions.  In 
general, RFCs are technical documents which are related to the 
Internet.  There are different bodies which are there to assess 
whether a document fits within that description.  What if an entity 
wishes to publish some documents which does that fit within that 
description?  It is up to the entity make its case.  Another approach 
is to foresee what might fit within the RFC Series in ten or twenty 
years from now.  Based on past experience, I would say that the 
argument has been made before and it remains, to this day, hypothetical.

One of the advantages of having a RSE with publishing expertise is 
that it helped to bring in some insights.  It was not a disadvantage 
that the person was not an subject matter expert in XMLv3 as the role 
of the person was to understanding the issues instead of being a 
subject matter expert on every aspect of the RFC Editor function.

My outsider's view of the RFC Series Oversight Committee is that it 
is an additional layer of management.  That committee has another 
committee overseeing it.  There is also a RFC Series Advisory 
Group.  The structure is a very elaborate one.

Regards,
S. Moonesamy