The Tao of IETF - A Guide for New Attendees of the Internet Engineering Task Force
RFC 1539
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(October 1993; No errata)
Obsoleted by RFC 1718
Obsoletes RFC 1391
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Author | Gary Malkin | ||
Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
Stream | Legacy | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | Legacy state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
RFC Editor Note | (None) | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 1539 (Informational) | |
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | (None) | ||
Send notices to | (None) |
Network Working Group G. Malkin Request for Comments: 1539 Xylogics, Inc. Obsoletes: 1391 October 1993 FYI: 17 Category: Informational The Tao of IETF A Guide for New Attendees of the Internet Engineering Task Force Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Abstract Over the last two years, the attendance at Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Plenary meetings has grown phenomenally. Approximately 38% of the attendees are new to the IETF at each meeting. About 33% of those go on to become regular attendees. When the meetings were smaller, it wasn't very difficult for a newcomer to get to know people and get into the swing of things. Today, however, a newcomer meets many more new people, some previously known only as the authors of Request For Comments (RFC) documents or thought provoking email messages. The purpose of this For Your Information (FYI) RFC is to explain to the newcomers how the IETF works. This will give them a warm, fuzzy feeling and enable them to make the meeting more productive for everyone. This FYI will also provide the mundane bits of information which everyone who attends an IETF meeting should know. Acknowledgments The IETF Secretariat is made up of the following people: Steve Coya (Executive Director of the IETF), Cynthia Clark, Lois Keiper, Debra Legare, John Stewart, and Megan Davies Walnut. These are the people behind the Registration Table, and the success, of the IETF meetings. I thank them for their hard work, and for their input and review of this document. Thanks also to Vinton Cerf, Christian Huitema, and Jon Postel for their review and comments. And, as always, special thanks to April Marine and Joyce Reynolds. Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 1] RFC 1539 The Tao of IETF October 1993 Table of Contents Section 1 - The "Fun" Stuff What is the IETF? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Humble Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 IETF Mailing Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Newcomers' Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Dress Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Seeing Spots Before Your Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Terminal Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Social Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Other General Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Section 2 - The "You've got to know it" Stuff Registration Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mailing Lists and Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Important Email Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 IETF Proceedings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 InterNIC Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Be Prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 RFCs and Internet-Drafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Frequently Asked Questions (and Their Answers) . . . . . . . 16 Pointers to Useful Documents and Files . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Section 3 - The "Reference" Stuff Tao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 IETF Area Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 What is the IETF? The Internet Engineering Task Force is a loosely self-organized group of people who make technical and other contributions to the engineering and evolution of the Internet and its technologies. It is the principal body engaged in the development of new Internet Standard specifications. Its mission includes: o Identifying, and proposing solutions to, pressing operational and technical problems in the Internet; Internet Engineering Task Force [Page 2] RFC 1539 The Tao of IETF October 1993 o Specifying the development or usage of protocols and the near-term architecture to solve such technical problems for the Internet;Show full document text