1.1 Acronyms and Abbreviations Used in the Tao

Some of the acronyms and abbreviations from this document are listed below.¶

2.1 Humble Beginnings

The first IETF meeting was held in January 1986 at Linkabit in San Diego,with 21 attendees. The 4th IETF, held at SRI in Menlo Park in October 1986,was the first that equipment vendors attended. The concept of Working Groupswas introduced at the 5th IETF meeting at the NASA Ames Research Center inCalifornia in February 1987. The 7th IETF, held at MITRE in McLean, Virginia,in July 1987, was the first meeting with more than 100 attendees.¶

After theInternet Society (ISOC) was formed in January 1992, the IABproposed to ISOC that the IAB's activities should take place under theauspices of the Internet Society. During INET92 in Kobe, Japan, the ISOCTrustees approved a new charter for the IAB to reflect the proposedrelationship.¶

The IETF met in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in July 1993. This was the firstIETF meeting held in Europe, and the US/non-US attendee split was nearly50/50. The IETF first met in Oceania (in Adelaide, Australia) in 2000, thefirst meeting in Asia (in Yokohama, Japan) was in 2002, and the first meetingin Latin America (in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was in 2016. So far, the IETFhas never met in Africa.¶

The IETF currently has a "1-1-1" meeting policy where the goal is todistribute the meetings equally between North America, Europe, and Asia.This policy is mainly aimed at distributing the travel effort for theexisting IETF participants who physically attend meetings and fordistributing the timezone difficulty for those who participate remotely. TheIETF has also met in Latin America and Oceania, but these continents arecurrently not part of the 1-1-1 rotation schedule.More information on picking the venue and the meeting policy can be foundinRFC 8718: IETF Plenary Meeting Venue Selection ProcessandRFC 8719: High-Level Guidance for the Meeting Policy of the IETF.¶

Remote participation in IETF meetings has been growing significantly in thepast few years, thanks in part to the ongoing effort to improve the tools andprocesses used to facilitate this mode of participation.¶

2.2 The Hierarchy

2.3 IETF Mailing Lists

The IETF does most of its communication, and all of its official work,via email.¶

Anyone who plans to participate in the IETF should join theIETF announcement mailing list. This is where all of the meeting information, RFCannouncements, and IESG Protocol Actions and Last Calls are posted. Thislist is strongly moderated, and only the Secretariat and a small number ofIETF leaders can approve messages sent to the announcement list, althoughthose messages can come from a variety of people.¶

There is also ageneraldiscussion list that is unmoderated. This means that everyone canexpress their opinions about issues affecting the Internet. As an opendiscussion forum, it sometimes spins out of control and it helps to be quickon theDELETE MESSAGE button while also being slow to take offense.The mailing list does have acharter, however, whichpoints out that it is not a place for companies or individuals to solicit oradvertise. As of this writing, the charter is being revised. It is lightlymoderated by two people appointed by the IETF Chair; they used to be called theSargent At Arms (SAA), and you might see that term sometimes. There is alsoa process for banning persistent offenders from the list, but fortunatelythis is extremely rare.¶

There are also subset lists. Thei-d-announcelist only posts when a new Internet-Draft is submitted.It is moderated.Thelast-calllist is not moderated, and is for discussion of IETF Last Calls (thestage when the IETF community is given one last chance to comment on adraft before it is published as an RFC).¶

Every Working Group has its own mailing list.¶

Every IETF mailing list is archived. (Unfortunately, the archives forsome lists from many years ago, when the IETF did not have its ownservers, have been lost.)¶

Even though the IETF mailing lists "represent" the IETF participants atlarge, it is important to note that attending an IETF meeting does not meanyou'll be automatically added to any list; you'll have to "opt in"directly.¶

3.1 Registration

To attend an IETF meeting, either online or in person, you have to registerand pay a registration fee. If you cannot afford the online registration fee, youcan apply for a fee waiver during the registration process. The meeting site(if the meeting is not purely online) is generally announced at severalmonths ahead of the meeting -- earlier if possible. An announcement goes outvia email to theietf-announce mailing list, and information is posted onthe IETF web site, that same day.Upcoming meeting locations are also mentioned at the plenary, and the hostfor the next meeting often gives a welcome.¶

You can register online at the IETF website, or in person throughout theweek. There are different fee schedules for early-bird, latecomers,single-day, and so on. The general registration fee covers all of the week'smeetings, the Sunday eveningWelcome Reception, and afternoon beverage andsnack breaks.¶

The IETF and related organizations are committed to transparency and protectingthe privacy of individuals. For information about the personal datathat is collected, and how it is managed, please see theprivacy statement.¶

You might also consider subscribing to the meeting-specific email list, whichis presented as an option when you register to participate in the meetingeither in-person or remotely. Discussions on the meetings list can be highvolume and fairly wide-ranging about meeting-specific issues, but it is alsoa channel for sharing information that many find useful to understand what isgoing on during the meeting itself. Topics often include information aboutlocal mass transit, interesting sites to see, desire to buy or sell asocial event ticket, and so on. Local experts, people who live in the area,often respond to questions and can be very helpful.¶

Sunday is an excellent day to join the meeting, unless you already came onSaturday for the hackathon. Sunday is the day for the newcomer's tutorial, aswell the Quick Connections session where newcomers get to meet withexperienced IETF participants. After these sessions there is the welcomereception, a popular event where you can get a small bite to eat andsocialize with other attendees.¶

During registration, you will be asked to confirm that you agree tofollow theNote Well. You can also read it, anytime,online.This points out the rules for IETF intellectual property rights (IPR),anti-harassment, and other important guiding policies for the IETF.These slides will also be shown before every WG session; as it getslater in the week, the slide transitions tend to get faster and faster.¶

If you need to leave messages for other attendees, you can do so at the corkboards that are usually near the IETF registration desk. These cork boardswill also have last-minute meeting changes and room changes. The agenda isavailable online, and changes can happen up to the last minute, such ascancelling a WG meeting.¶

You can also turn in lost-and-found items to the registration desk. At theend of the meeting, anything left over from the lost-and-found will usuallybe turned over to the hotel or brought back to the Secretariat's office.Incidentally, the IETF registration desk is often a convenient place toarrange to meet people. If someone says "meet me at registration," you shouldclarify if they mean the IETF registration desk, or the hotel registrationdesk: This has been a common cause of missed connections.¶

3.2 Take the Plunge and Stay All Week!

IETF WG meetings are scheduled from Monday morning through Friday afternoon.Associated non-WG meetings often take place on the preceding or followingweekends, and unofficial "side meetings" can also be scheduled during theweek. It is best to plan to be present the whole week, to benefit fromcross-fertilization between WGs and from hallway discussions (both offline aswell as in online environments such as thegather.town website). As notedbelow, the agenda is fluid, and there have been instances of participantsmissing important sessions due to last-minute scheduling changes after theirtravel plans were fixed. Being present the whole week is the only way toavoid this annoyance.¶

If you cannot find meetings all week to interest you, you can still make themost of the IETF meeting by working between sessions. Almost every attendeehas a laptop, and it is common to see many of them in the terminal room or inthe lobbies and hallways working during meeting sessions. The IETF sets up a high-speed network throughout the hotel for the duration of the meeting,and there's no charge to use the "IETF wifi." This usually covers many placesof the meeting venue (restaurants, coffee shops, and so on), so catching upon email when not in meetings is a fairly common task for IETFers.¶

Note that many people use their laptops actively during meeting sessionsfor practical purposes such as consulting drafts. Power strips in all meetingrooms and hotel rooms will provide only the sockets permitted by localregulations, so ensure in advance that you have an appropriate travel adapter.¶

3.3 Newcomer Training

Newcomers should attend the Newcomer's Tutorial on Sunday, which isespecially designed for them. The tutorial is organized and conducted by theIETF Education, Mentoring, and Outreach Directorate (EMODIR) team and isintended to provide useful introductory information. The session covers thestructure of the IETF, how to get the most out of the meeting, and many otheressential and enlightening topics for new IETFers. The IETF has aYouTube channel which has the previous tutorials. This has recently been broken down intofour 15-minute segments which might be easier to view.¶

Quick Connections is a session limited to newcomers and experienced IETFparticipants. It is a great chance to meet people, and establish contactsthat can be useful during the rest of the week. Registration is requiredas space is limited. It is held right before the welcome reception.¶

3.4 Dress Code

At meetings people generally dress informally, and newcomers could feel outof place if they show up Monday morning in suits. The general rule is "dressfor casual comfort." Note that the hotel air conditioning might mean bringinga sweater or other covering as well.¶

3.5 Working Group Meetings

The heart of an IETF meeting is the WG meetings themselves. Different WGschairs have very different styles, so it is impossible to generalize how a WGmeeting will feel. All WGs have agendas, however, and most will follow thefollowing approach.¶

At the beginning of the meeting, the chair will pass around thebluesheets, which are paper forms on which everyone writes their name and theiraffiliation. These are archived and used for planning capacity needs for thenext time the WG meets. In very rare cases, they have been used to indicateexactly who showed up. When you are handed the sheet, sign your name andpass it along in the same direction. If you arrive after the start, at theend of the meeting you can go up front and sign it then. For virtualattendance using theMeetEcho video conference system, attendance ishandled by accessing the application.¶

After the blue sheets, there are calls for volunteers to take minutes. Morethan one person can do so, and they are often done on a Web page using acollaborative editing app. Taking minutes can be a good way to ensure youfollow the discussions without distraction! The link to the web page will bepart of the WG entry that is part of the online meeting agenda. There isalso a chance to make any last-minute updates to the agenda. This is knownas "agenda bashing." Finally, there will be a review of the Note Well. Theorder in which these things happen can vary, but they are all done before themeeting really "starts."¶

To speak during a meeting, go to the microphone(s) located near the middle ofthe room. For controversial topics, there will be a line at the mic, but donot hesitate to be the first person at the line if you have a question or acontribution to the discussion. The WG chair or presenter will indicate whenyou can speak. Although it would be easier to just raise your hand from whereyou are sitting, the mics perform a very useful task: they let the peoplelistening remotely and in the room hear your question or comment. When youfirst speak, say your name and affiliation for identification purposes. Ifyou miss this, folks will often say "name!" to remind you. Don't beembarrassed if this happens, it's not uncommon.¶

3.6 Seeing Spots Before Your Eyes

Some attendees will have a little colored dot on their name tag, and a fewpeople have more than one. These dots identify people who have volunteered todo extra work, such as being a WG chair, an IESG member, and so on. Thecolors have the meanings shown here.¶

Members of the press wear orange-tinted badges with the word "press" on them.¶

As newcomer, don't be afraid to strike up conversations with people who wearthese dots. If the IAB and IESG members and Working Group and BOF chairsdidn't want to talk to anybody, they wouldn't be wearing the dots in thefirst place! Note, however, that IETF meetings are usually intense times forArea Directors. Talking to an AD during an IETF meeting will often resultin them asking you to send email after the meeting ends.Also, when you starta hallway conversation with an Area Director (or even a WG chair, for thatmatter), it is often good to give them about 30 seconds of context for thediscussion.¶

Near the registration area there are usually ribbons and markers so thatpeople can label their specific interests, history, and so on.Many people use them to make (inside) jokes, which are sometimes amusing.¶

3.7 Terminal Room

The IETF wifi is provided by volunteers who run the Network Operations Center(NOC). The terminal room is where you can get wired connectivity and limitedaccess to a printer. The people and companies that donate their equipment,services, and time are to be heartily congratulated and thanked.¶

You must be wearing your badge in order to get into the terminal room. Theterminal room provides power strips, Ethernet ports, and wifi(for the people who don't need Ethernet but want power). What it doesn'tprovide are terminals; the name is historical. The help desk in the terminalroom is also a good place to ask questions about network failures, althoughthey might point you off to different networking staff.¶

3.8 Meals and Snacks

Although it is true that some people eat very well at the IETF, they find thefood on their own since lunches and dinners are not included in theregistration fee. In addition to socializing, dinner meetings can be a goodway to get additional work done.¶

If sponsorship for it is secured, the welcome reception provides drinksand appetizers but is not meant to be a full replacement for dinner.Sometimes a continental breakfast can be included with the hotel registration.There IETF meeting also includes a morning coffee and snack break, anda similar one in the afternoon.¶

If you prefer to get out of the hotel for meals, the local host usuallyprovides a list of places to eat within easy reach of the meeting site,and the meeting-specific email list is also a useful source.¶

3.9 Social Event

Another of the most important things organized and managed by the host is theIETF social event. The social event is sometimes high-tech-related event, orit might be in an art museum or a reception hall. Note, however, that not allIETF meetings have social events.¶

Newcomers to the IETF are encouraged to attend the social event. Wear yourname tag and leave your laptop behind. The social event is designed to givepeople a chance to meet on a social, rather than technical, level. Thesocial ticket costs extra, is reserved at registration time, and has limitedcapacity. People looking to buy or sell a social ticket often post to theemail list, or on the corkboards mentioned above.¶

3.10 Agenda

The agenda for the IETF meetings is a very fluid thing. It is available onthe web and through the IETF mobile apps starting a few weeks before themeeting. Of course, "final" in the IETF doesn't mean the same thing as itdoes elsewhere in the world. The final agenda is simply the last versionposted before the meeting. The Secretariat will post agenda changes on thebulletin board near the IETF registration desk (reminder, not the hotelregistration desk!). These late changes are not capricious: they are made"just in time" as session chairs and speakers become aware of unanticipatedconflicts. The IETF is too dynamic for agendas to be tied down weeks inadvance.¶

A map showing the hotel layout and, specifically the meeting rooms, is alsoavailable with the agenda. Room assignments can change as the agendachanges. Some Working Groups meet multiple times during a meeting, and everyattempt is made to have a Working Group meet in the same room for eachsession.¶

3.11 EMODIR to the Rescue

If, after you finish reading this document, certain aspects of the IETF stillmystify you, you'll want to drop in on the on-site training offered by theEducation, Mentoring, and Outreach (EMODIR) team. In addition to theNewcomer training mentioned above, EMODIR also hosts informal newcomergatherings during the coffee break sessions. Details vary for each meeting,so watch the agenda and the newcomer-specific email list.¶

EMODIR also organized in-depth technical tutorials, useful for newcomersand experienced IETFers alike.These are also announced as part of the program, and are usually onSundays.¶

Finally, EMODIR runs theIETF Guides program, pairing newcomers with anexperienced IETF person to help you become acclimated and effective quickly.This has not worked out very well during the all-virtual meetings, frankly.If you are interested, watch for the announcement. Ideally you have a callwith your mentor before the meeting, a meeting during the beginning of themeeting, and check in some time during the meeting, so they can help you withany questions you might have.¶

Details on EMODIR membership and charter are availableonline.¶

3.12 Where Do I Fit In?

The IETF is different things to different people. There are many people whohave been very active in the IETF who have never attended an IETF meeting,and you should not feel obligated to come to an IETF meeting just to get a feelfor the IETF.If, however, you decide to come, this document andRFC 4144: How to Gain Prominence and Influence in Standards Organizationsprovides some pointerson how to make your meeting a success.The following guidelines (based on stereotypes of people in variousindustries) might help you decide whether you actually want to come and, ifso, what might be the best use of your time at your first meeting.¶

3.13 Proceedings

IETF proceedings are compiled in the weeks and months after each meeting andare availableonline.Be sure to look through a copy at least once; the proceedings are filled withinformation about IETF that you're not likely to find anywhere else. Forexample, you'll copies of every session's slides, links to the videorecording, copies of the blue sheets (attendance), and so on.¶

3.14 Other General Things

IETFers in general are very approachable. Never be afraid to approach someoneand introduce yourself. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions, especiallywhen it comes to jargon and acronyms. If someone is presenting an updateto their draft, feel free to step up to the mic and ask a clarifyingquestion. Before you do, however, make sure to have read the draft first.Working Group meetings are not a time for general tutorials.¶

Hallway conversations are very important. A lot of very good work gets doneby people who talk together between meetings and over lunches and dinners.Every minute of the IETF can be considered work time (much to some people'sdismay).¶

A side meeting (historically but often inaccurately called a "bar BOF") is anunofficial get-together between WG meetings or in the late evening, duringwhich a lot of work gets done. These side meetings spring up in manydifferent places around an IETF meeting, such as restaurants, coffee shops,unused hall spaces and the like. You can read more aboutBirds-of-a Feather sessions (BOFs)in section 5.¶

The IETF meetings, and the plenary session in particular, are not places forvendors to try to sell their wares. People can certainly answer questionsabout their company and its products, but bear in mind that the IETF is not atrade show.¶

There is always a "materials distribution table" near the registration desk.This desk is used to make appropriate information available to the attendees(e.g., copies of something discussed in a Working Group session, descriptionsof online IETF-related information). Please check with the Secretariat beforeplacing materials on the desk; the Secretariat has the right to removematerial that they feel is not appropriate.¶

3.15 Remote Participation

People have joined IETF meetings remotely for a long time, but the tools forthis have changed a lot over the years. Currently the IETF uses a browser-based tool known asMeetEcho. There is also a text-based discussionforum calledJabber. This is integrated into MeetEcho, but there are alsostand-alone clients available. Planned for 2022, theZulip textwill be available. Each WG will have its own stream.¶

The links for the Meetecho rooms, the Jabber chats, and meeting materials,can always be found in the right-hand side of the agenda, under the differenticons. All sessions are recorded and can be viewed after the meeting, alongwith chat logs and meeting minutes. This can be useful to refresh yourmemory while writing a trip report, or for catching up on what happenedwhen you wanted to be in two WG meetings at once. It happens; schedulingconflicts are unavoidable.¶

4.1 Working Group Chairs

Each Working Group has one or two (or, rarely, three) chairs. The role of theWG chairs is described in bothBCP 11andBCP 25.¶

Chairs have responsibility for the technical and non-technical qualityof WG output. The chair must keep the WG productive, and making progresson its drafts. Sometimes there is a WG Secretary to help. Document editors,too, are usually incentivized to make progress on their drafts. The chairmust manage WG discussion, both on the list and by scheduling meetingswhen appropriate. Sometimes discussions get stuck on contentious pointsand the chair may need to steer people toward productive interaction andthen declare when rough consensus has been met and the discussion isover. Sometimes chairs also manage interactions with non-WG participantsor the IESG, especially when a WG document approaches publication. Asyou can imagine given the mix of secretarial, interpersonal, andtechnical demands, some Working Group chairs are much better attheir jobs than others.¶

4.2 Getting Things Done in a Working Group

One fact that confuses many newcomers is that the face-to-face WG meetings are muchless important in the IETF than they are in most other organizations. Any decisionmade at a face-to-face meeting must also gain consensus on the WG mailing list. Thisis sometimes phrased as "at the last WG meeting, we decided XXX; if you disagreeplease speak up by the end of the week" and you'll therefore often hear the phrase"to be confirmed on the list." There are numerous examples of important decisionsmade in WG meetings that are later overturned on the mailing list, often becausesomeone who couldn't attend the meeting pointed out a serious flaw in the logicused to come to the decision. Finally, WG meetings aren't "drafting sessions"as they are in some other standards bodies: in the IETF, drafting is done elsewhere.¶

Another aspect of Working Groups that confounds many people is the fact thatthere is no formal voting. The general rule on disputed topics is that theWorking Group has to come to "rough consensus," meaning that a very largemajority of those who care must agree, and that those in the minority have had achance to explain why. Generally consensus is determined byhumming: if youagree with a proposal, you hum when prompted by the chair. Most hum questionscome in three parts: you hum to the first part if you agree with the proposal,to the second part if you disagree, or to the third part if you do not haveenough information to make up your mind. Newcomers find it quite peculiar, butit works. It is up to the chair to decide when the Working Group has reachedrough consensus; sometimes the responsible AD will also do so.¶

The lack of formal voting has caused some very long delays for some proposals,but most IETF participants who have witnessed rough consensus after acrimoniousdebates feel that the delays often result in better protocols. (And, if youthink about it, how could you have "voting" in a group that invites allinterested individuals to participate, and when it's impossible to count theparticipants?) A common definition and practice of humming can be found inRFC 7282: On Consensus and Humming in the IETF.¶

A related problem is that some people think that their topic should be discussedin the WG even when the WG chair believes it is outside the scope of the charter.If the WG agrees, they can work tore-charter so that the topic is in scope.The individual can also bring their concerns to the responsible AD.¶

When a WG has fulfilled its charter, it is supposed to cease operations. (MostWG mailing lists continue on after a WG is closed, still discussing the sametopics as the Working Group did.) In the IETF, it is a mark of success that theWG closes up because it fulfilled its charter. This is one of the aspects of theIETF that newcomers who have experience with other standards bodies have a hardtime understanding.¶

4.3 Working Group Documents

There is an official distinction between WG I-Ds and individual I-Ds. A WGwill have to review an individual draft before deciding if it should be adoptedby the WG. The WG chairs appoint who will be the authors or editors of theI-Ds; often those who wrote the initial draft continue work on behalf of theWG. Procedures for Internet-Drafts are covered in much more detail later in thisdocument.¶

For Working Group documents, the document editor serves at the pleasure of theWG Chair. There is often more than one editor for Working Group documents,particularly for complex documents. The document editor is responsible forensuring that the contents of the document accurately reflects Working Groupdecisions; when a document editor does not follow the WG consensus, the WGChairs will either be more forceful about getting changes that match theconsensus or replace the document editor with someone more responsive to the WG.As a Working Group document is progressing, participants suggest changes on theWorking Group's mail list (or online if the document is maintained somewhereaccessible); the editors are expected to follow the discussion and make changeswhen there is consensus.¶

Sometimes a Working Group will consider several alternatives before selecting aparticular Internet-Draft as a Working Group document. A Working Group willoften take ideas from several of the alternatives to create a single WorkingGroup document; in such a case, the chair determines who will be listed asauthors on the title page and who will be acknowledged as contributors in thebody of the document.¶

When a WG document is ready to progress beyond the WG, the WG Chairs will assigna "shepherd" to take over the final process. The role of the document shepherdis described inRFC 4858: Document Shepherding from Working Group Last Call to Publication. The chair, who knows the history of the draft within the WG, often does the shepherdwrite-up.¶

4.4 Preparing for Working Group Meetings

The most important thing thateveryone should do before coming to aface-to-face meeting is to read the Internet-Drafts and RFCs ahead of time. WGmeetings are explicitly not for education: they are for developing the group'sdocuments and often the document is presented as a set of slides saying"here's what changed since last meeting." Even if you do not plan to sayanything in the meeting, you should read, or at least skim, the group'sdocuments before attending so you can understand what is being said.¶

It's up to the WG chairs to set the meeting agenda, usually a few weeks inadvance. If you want something discussed at the meeting, be sure to let thechair know about it. The agendas for all the WG meetings are available inadvance on the datatracker, and links to will be found on every full meetingagenda. Unfortunately, some WG chairs are lax (if not totally negligent) aboutturning them in.¶

The Secretariat only makes the full IETF meeting schedule a few weeks inadvance, and the schedule often changes as little as a week before the firstday. If you are only coming for one WG meeting, you may have a hard time bookingyour flight with such little notice, particularly if the Working Group's meetingchanges schedule. Be sure to keep track of the current agenda so you canschedule flights and hotels. But, when it comes down to it, you probablyshouldn't be coming for just one WG meeting. It's likely that your knowledgecould be valuable in a few WGs, assuming that you've read the I-Ds and RFCsfor those groups. Work in the IETF is often reciprocal, contribute positively toothers work and you are more likely to receive comments and feedback on yourwork.¶

If you are on the agenda at a face-to-face meeting, you should prepare a fewslides and mail them to the chair before the meeting. Don't come with atutorial; people are supposed to read the I-Ds in advance. Projectors forlaptop-based presentations are available in all the meeting rooms.¶

And here's a tip for your slides: don't put your company's logo on every one,even though that is a common practice outside the IETF. The IETF frowns on thiskind of corporate advertising (except for the meeting sponsor in the plenarypresentation), and most presenters don't even put their logo on their openingslide. The IETF is about technical content, not company boosterism. Slides areoften plain black and white for legibility, with color used only when it reallyadds clarity. Again, the content is the most important part of the slides, nothow it's presented.¶

One thing you might find helpful, and possibly even entertaining, during WorkingGroup sessions is to follow the running commentary on the Jabber room associatedwith that Working Group. Jabber is a free, streaming XML technology mainly usedfor instant messaging. You can find pointers to Jabber clients for manyplatforms at (https://xmpp.org/xmpp-software/clients). The Jabber chatrooms havethe name of the Working Group followed by "@jabber.ietf.org". Those rooms are,in fact, available year-round, not just during IETF meetings, and some are usedby active Working Group participants during protocol development.¶

4.5 Working Group Mailing Lists

As we mentioned earlier, the IETF announcement and discussion mailing lists arethe central mailing lists for IETF activities. However, there are many othermailing lists related to IETF work. For example, every Working Group has its owndiscussion list. In addition, there are some long-term technical debates thathave been moved off of the IETF list onto lists created specifically for thosetopics. It is highly recommended that you follow the discussions on the mailinglists of the Working Groups that you wish to attend. The more work that is doneon the mailing lists, the less work that will need to be done at the meeting,leaving time for cross pollination (i.e., attending Working Groups outside one'sprimary areas of interest in order to broaden one's perspective).¶

The mailing lists also provide a forum for those who wish to follow, orcontribute to, the Working Groups' efforts, but can't attend the IETF meetings.That's why IETF procedures require all decisions to be confirmed "on the list"and you will often hear a WG chair say, "Let's take it to the list" to close adiscussion.¶

Every WG has a dedicated page on the datatracker site, and the "About" tab willpoint to mailing list subscription and archives.¶

4.6 Interim Working Group Meetings

Working Groups sometimes hold interim meetings between IETFs. Interim meetingsaren't a substitute for IETF meetings, however -- a group can't decide to skip ameeting in a location they're not fond of and meet in Cancun (or even someplacemundane) three weeks later, for example. Interim meetings need to be announcedat least one month in advance. Location and timing need to allow fair access forall participants. Like regular IETF meetings, someone needs to take notes andthe group needs to take attendance. Decisions tentatively made during an interimWG meeting must still be confirmed on the mailing list. Interim meetings aresubject to the IETF Note Well. Most interim meetings are virtual these days and have the same reporting requirements as face-to-face virtual meetings.¶

The IESG has rules for advance notice on time and place of interim Working Groupmeetings, as well as reporting the results of the meetings. The purpose of theserules is to make interim meetings accessible to as many Working Group members aspossible and to maintain the transparency of the Working Group process.¶

6.1 The Overall Process

The very first step is to have a draft document. Internet-Draftsshould follow a specific format, and are required to have particularsections. This will be discussed morebelow.¶

RFCs are generally written by a Working Group. If an appropriateWG doesn't seem to exist, then theBOF or Dispatchprocess mentioned above can be used to learn which one is appropriate,or start the process to create one.¶

Once a potential WG exists, the document must beadopted. To do this, yousubmit your individual draft to the datatracker. It should start withdraft-YOURNAME-brief-subject whereYOURNAME is your name. Send a note tothe WG mailing list, with an introduction to the draft, and why you think itis appropriate. After any discussion, the WG Chair will issue acall foradoption. If consensus is to adopt the draft, you will be asked to submitit with the namedraft-ietf-WGNAME-brief-subject; you can probably guesswhatWGNAME should be.¶

Note that as part of submitting an Internet Draft according to the rules, yougrant the IETF certain rights. These rights give the IETF the ability toreliably build upon the work you have brought forward. These rights are heldby the IETF Trust.BCP 78explains the certain rights the IETF Trust takes on for submissions.¶

Once a WG adopt a document, the WG as a whole has the right of "changecontrol." This means the WG, can make any changes to the document, the oneyou initially wrote, that they want. If you are not comfortable with this,then the IETF is not the place for your document. There are a few moredetails on this below.¶

The WG now "works on" the document. This will be a combination ofmailing list discussion, perhaps agenda time at a meeting, and publishingupdated drafts. (Every draft ends with-NN where the digits indicatethe draft number.)¶

At some point, the document will seem finished. The WG Chair will put thedocument inWG Last Call (WGLC) which gives the members of the WG a chancefor last-minute changes. It can be frustrating to get a bunch of changesafter you think you're done, but don't take it personally. Like many things,people are often deadline-driven.¶

After WGLC, the responsible AD (the one who oversees the WG) does a review.They will probably have comments that must be resolved by you and the WG;it's quite likely you'll have to publish a new draft. Then the IESG andthe overall IETF reviews the draft, as mentioned above.The purpose of IETF Last Call is to get community-wide discussion ondocuments before the IESG considers them. Note the worddiscussion here. Itis generally considered bad form to send IETF Last Call comments on documentsthat you have not read, or to send comments but not be prepared to discussyour views. The IETF Last Call is not a vote. Having said that, IETF LastCall comments that come from people who have just read the document for thefirst time can expose issues that IETF and WG regulars may have completelymissed, which is why the discussion is open to everyone.¶

Finally, the draft is given to the RFC Production Center (RPC), and preparedfor publication. There might be other changes required, including reviews byIANA for registrations and the like. The most common item you'll hear aboutthis isAUTH48 state, which means the document is in the final stages ofcopy-editing by the RPC and you. The publication process can take weeks,but be patient, and you'll eventually see an email announcement sayingthat your brand-new RFC has been published. Congratulations!¶

A much more complete explanation of these steps is contained inBCP 9.This set of documents goes into great detail on a topic that isvery often misunderstood, even by seasoned IETF participants: different typesof RFCs go through different processes and have different rankings.¶

6.2 Common Issues

There are two major issues that often come up while preparing I-Ds:copyright and patents.¶

We discussed copyright above, but expand on it here. When the IETF adopts anInternet-Draft, it is required that theboilerplate, the common text thatappears in every draft, has a notice that says the IETF,and the documentauthors own the copyright. This means that while the IETF can do what itwants with the document, within limitations so can you. You cannot, forexample, claim this is an IETF standard, nor use the IETF trademarks.¶

Incidentally, the change control on Internet standards doesn't end when theRFC is published. Things can be changed later for a number of reasons, suchas to solve a newly-discovered problem or address new use-cases. These laterchanges are also under the control of the IETF, not the editors of thestandards document.¶

The second issue is patents. The goal of the IETF is to have its standardswidely used and validated by the marketplace. If creating a product thatuses a standard requires getting a license for a patent, people are lesslikely to implement the standard. Not surprisingly, then, the general rulehas been "use good non-patented technology where possible."¶

Of course, this isn't always possible. Sometimes patents appear after astandard has been established and there is little the IETF can do about that.Sometimes there's a patent on something that is so valuable that there isn'ta non-patented equivalent, and generally the IETF tries to avoid it.¶

Sometimes the patent holder is generous and promises to give all implementorsof a standard a royalty-free license to the patent, thereby making it almostas easy to implement as it would have been if no patent existed. Ideally,and this is the common case when a patent-holder is active in a document,the patent holder will grant free use of the patent to implement thespecification.¶

The official rules for all intellectual property rights (IPR) inIETF documents, not just patents but also code samples and the like,are covered inBCP 78 andBCP 79.¶

If you are writing an Internet-Draft and you know of a patent that applies tothe technology you're writing about, don't list the patent in the document.Instead, consult theIPR disclosures page. If you still have issues, consult with the WG Chair orthe responsible AD. Intellectual property rights aren't mentioned in RFCsbecause RFCs never change after they are published, while knowledge of IPRcan change at any time. Therefore, an IPR list in an RFC could be incompleteand mislead the reader.BCP 79 provides specific text that should be added to RFCs where the authorknows of IPR issues.¶

6.3 Writing an Internet-Draft

Every RFC starts its life as an I-D. Internet-Drafts have the same format as an RFC,and are required to have all the content that should appear in the RFC. Thisincludes a couple of sections detailed below. A draft may also have moreinformation, such as an incremental list of changes from previous versions ofthe draft, or pointers to online locations for raising issues and suggestingchanges.¶

For the past several years, the official canonical source of RFCs asRFC 7991: The "xml2rfc" Version 3 Vocabulary. Some people enjoy writing in XML, and some don't.An alternative for the second group is to use a specific dialect of markdown,which is then converted to XML as needed (and especially during thepublication process). A recent trend is the increasing use of markdown, andhosting I-Ds on GitHub to attract a wider audience of Internet-savvy users.Some information on this can be found atRFC 8874: Working Group GitHub Usage Guidance.¶

The IETF is setting up a new site,https://authors.ietf.org,to contain guides and online tools to help both new and experienced authors.As of this writing, it's still a draft but it does contain a greatdeal of useful content. You should feel free to use the site, and offer feedback.¶

Outside of the formatting decision, the most important document you canread isGuidelines to Authors of Internet-Drafts.That document explains the naming conventions, formatting requirements,required content, and details of how to submit (also calledpost) yourdraft.¶

6.4 Standards-Track RFCs

If the IESG approves the draft to become a standards-track RFC, they ask theRPC to publish it as aProposed Standard.¶

Don't be surprised if a particular standard doesn't progress from ProposedStandard to Internet Standard. To become an Internet Standard, an RFC musthave multiple interoperable implementations and the unused features in theProposed Standard must be removed; there are additional requirements listedinBCP 9. Most of theprotocols in common use are Proposed standards and never move forward. Thismay be because no one took the time to try to get them to Internet Standard,or some of the normative references in the standard are still at Proposedstandard, or it may be that everyone found more important things to do.¶

6.5 RFCs Other than Standards-Track

As mentioned earlier, not all RFCs are standards. In fact, many importantRFCs are not on the standards track at all. At the time of writing, thereare also categories for Informational, Experimental, Best Current Practice,and Historical for standards that are no longer recommended for use. Therole of Informational RFCs can be confusing, and people sometimes refer tothem as "standards," when they are not.¶

Experimental RFCs are for specifications that are interesting, but for whichit is unclear if there will be widespread deployment, or if they will scale towork after such deployment. That is, a specification might solve a problem,but there might not be IETF consensus that the problem is worth solving orthat the specification is complete enough to address the problem.Experimental RFCs are also used to get people to experiment with a technologythat looks like it might be standards-track material, but for which there arestill unanswered questions.¶

The IESG has createdguidelines that can help choose between Informational and Experimental classification. This is a short informal read, and if are not sure whereyour document fits, it is worth reading.¶

Finally, there are two sub-series of RFCs: Best Current Practice(BCP) and Internet Standards (STD). BCP describes the application of varioustechnologies in the Internet, and are also commonly used to document the manyparts of the IETF process. The STD sub-series was created to identify RFCsthat do in fact specify Internet standards.¶

These are an example of the aphorism that everything in computer science canbe solved by a layer of indirection. For example, a single BCP can refer toone or more RFCs, and the specific RFCs can change such as when a new versionof a protocol is published. Likewise, some STDs are actuallysets of more than one RFC, and the "standard" designation applies to thewhole set of documents.¶

7.1 What You Can Do

Read: Review the Internet-Drafts in your area of expertise and comment onthem in the Working Groups. Participate in the discussion in a friendly,helpful fashion, with the goal being the best Internet standards possible.Listen much more than you speak. If you disagree, debate the technicalissues: never attack the people.¶

Implement: Write programs that use the current Internet standards. Thestandards aren't worth much unless they are available to Internet users.Implement even the "minor" standards, since they will become less minor ifthey appear in more software. Report any problems you find with the standardsto the appropriate Working Group so that the standard can be clarified inlater revisions. Remember the tenet, "rough consensus and running code,"so you can help support the standards you want to become morewidespread by creating more running code. You can help the development ofprotocols before they become standards by implementing I-Ds (but not doingwide-spread deployment) to ensure that the authors have done a good job. Ifyou find errors or omissions, offer improvements based on your implementationexperience. A great way to get involved in this is by participating inthe Hackathons.¶

Write: Edit or co-author Internet-Drafts in your area of expertise. Dothis for the benefit of the Internet community, not to get your name (or,even worse, your company's name) on a document. Draft authors receive kindsof technical (and, sadly, sometimes personal) criticism. Take the technicalcomments with equanimity and use it to improve your draft in order to producethe best and most interoperable standard, and ignore the personal ones.¶

7.2 What Your Company Can Do

Share: Avoid proprietary standards. If you are an implementor, exhibit astrong preference for IETF standards. If the IETF standards aren't as good asthe proprietary standards, work to make the IETF standards better. If you'rea purchaser, avoid products that use proprietary standards that compete withthe open standards of the IETF and tell the vendors that you are doing so.¶

Open Up: If your company owns a patent that is used in an IETF standard,convince the company to make the patent available at no cost to anyone who isimplementing the standard. Patents have previously caused many seriousproblems for Internet standards because they prevent some companies frombeing able to freely implement them. Fortunately, many companies havegenerously offered unlimited licenses for particular patents in order to helpthe IETF standards flourish. These companies are usually rewarded withpositive publicity for the fact that they are not as greedy or short-sightedas other patent-holders.¶

Support: The IETF hassponsorshipopportunities andan endowmentwhich can also take individual-sized donations.Become a member of ISOC. Urge any company that hasbenefited from the Internet to contribute, since this has the greatestfinancial benefit for the group. It will, of course, also benefit theInternet as a whole.¶

8.1 IETF and Other SDOs

There are many other standards organizations whose decisions affect theInternet. Some of them ignored the Internet for a long time and now want toget a piece of the action. In general, the IETF tries to have cordialrelationships with other SDOs. This isn't always easy, since they usuallyhave different structures and processes than the IETF does, and the IETF ismostly run by volunteers who would probably prefer to write standards ratherthan meet with representatives from other bodies. Even so, many SDOs make agreat effort to interact well with the IETF despite the obvious culturaldifferences.¶

As stated inBCP 39,the IAB Charter:"Liaisons are kept as informal as possible and must be ofdemonstrable value in improving the quality of IETF specifications." Inpractice, the IETF prefers liaisons to take place directly at the WGlevel, with formal relationships and liaison documents in a backup role. Thebest place to check to see whether the IETF has any formal liaison at all isthe list ofIETF liaisons.¶

At the time of this writing, the IETF has around two dozen liaisons. Some ofthese liaison tasks fall to the IESG, whereas others fall to the IAB.Full details about the processes for dealing with other SDOs can befound inBCP 102andBCP 103.¶

8.2 Press Coverage of the IETF

Given that the IETF is one of the best-known bodies that is helping move theInternet forward, it's natural for the media to cover its actions. But it canbe hard to cover the IETF; a common mistake is reporting an individual'sInternet-Draft as something the IETF is working on, or that the IETF hasapproved a new standard when it was an Informational or Individual RFC.Often, the press is not really to blame for the problem, as they might havebeen alerted to the story by a company trying to get publicity for aprotocol, or they see the latest "controversy" on social media.¶

Reporters who want to find out about "what the IETF is doing" on a particulartopic would be well-advised to talk to more than one person who is active onthat topic in the IETF, and should probably try to talk to the WG chair inany case. It's impossible to determine what will happen with a draft bylooking at the draft or talking to the draft's author. Fortunately, all WGshave archives that a reporter can look through for recent indications aboutwhat the progress of a draft is; unfortunately, few reporters have the timeor inclination to do this kind of research.¶

Reporters looking for information about the IETF, or pointers to IETFparticipants working on a particular topic relevant to the IETF, should senda message tomedia@ietf.org, and a fullpage of contacts for a variety of needs is availableonline. Replies are usually sentwithin a day. Even if a direct answer to a particular query is not available,pointers to resources or people who can provide more information about atopic are often provided.¶