In a previous episode Keith Moore said...
::
:: > If its widely deployed, then it is interesting to interoperate with it.
:: > If one wants to interoperate with something, then it makes sense
:: > that the technology would be published and or standardized.
::
:: nope. it doesn't follow.
::
:: IETF is not in the business of endorsing questionable practices.
::
I find this line of thought very discouraging and misleading.
a] wpad exists.. it has a userbase and awareness.. it is not
perfect.. there are certainly things I would like to change about
it. (for instance I think the MUST use DHCP is a security
problem).. so if I'm coming off as a microsoft cheerleader, trust me
I'm not. What I am a cheerleader for are solutions that lead to a
more robust, more scalable, and more effective network. Acheiving
those goals is why I'm here.
b] The wpad authors are willing to sumbit their protocol to the community
to change. So that those qualities that Mr Moore characterizes as
questionable can be addressed and consensus reached in the usual
practice. This offer seems to be dismissed under the guise that it's
an attempt at manipulation of the IETF. If the document really is
open to community review, then control has been yielded and the
appropriate changes must be made.
Assuming the IETF process works (which in general, I think it does)
why on earth would the IETF force something into a
proprietary-but-published track such as Informational when the parties
involved are willing to honestly make it an open standard?
I would further add that the IETF has (and is) standardized a system
of web caching with HTTP/1.1 and provided no bootstrap method of using
it. The lack of that element in the design has directly lead to
implementations using IP spoofing and hijacking that I have no problem
characterizing as questionable. now I don't blame the http-wg for that
oversight (heck, I'm partly responsible for it through my
participation there) but I certainly think it's essential that the
IETF complete the picture and correct the problem.
-Pat
-- Patrick R. McManus - AppliedTheory Communications - Software Engineering http://pat.appliedtheory.com/~mcmanus Lead Developer mcmanus@AppliedTheory.com 'Prince of Pollywood' Standards, today! *** - You Kill Nostalgia, Xenophobic Fears. It's Now or Neverland. - ***
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