Internet DRAFT - draft-hoffman-rfc7990-updates
draft-hoffman-rfc7990-updates
Network Working Group P. Hoffman
Internet-Draft ICANN
Updates: 7990 (if approved) 5 February 2023
Intended status: Standards Track
Expires: 9 August 2023
Canonical Format for RFCs
draft-hoffman-rfc7990-updates-02
Abstract
This document updates RFC 7990 by changing the definition of the
"canonical format" for RFCs.
Status of This Memo
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provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on 9 August 2023.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Updated Definition of "Canonical Format" . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. Introduction
[RFC7990] defines a framework for how RFCs would be published in the
future, including new formats and a new canonical format for
archiving RFCs.
This document updates [RFC7990] in that it changes the definition of
the canonical format for RFCs. This document explicitly does not
update the other documents referenced in [RFC7990].
2. Updated Definition of "Canonical Format"
Section 3 of [RFC7990] defines the canonical format as:
Canonical format: the authorized, recognized, accepted, and
archived version of the document
That definition is the only place in [RFC7990] that uses the word
"archived" or "archive". [RFC6949] uses the word in a fashion
similar to [RFC7990]. [RFC6635], the earlier model for the RFC
Editor as a whole, says "The archive of RFC documents, any source
documents needed to recreate the RFC documents, and any associated
original documents (such as lists of errata, tools, and, for some
early items, originals that are not machine readable) need to be
secured against any kind of data storage failure."
These definitions never explicitly state that the initial archived
version of a document must never change. However, some people in the
IETF community have said that they make that assumption. Others say
that the archived version can change to fix XML format errors as long
as the underlying meaning of the text does not change.
At the time that this document is written, the RFC Editor has not
changed the XML files for RFCs after they were published.
The definition of "canonical format" in Section 3 of [RFC7990] is
updated to be:
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Canonical format: the authorized, recognized, accepted, and most
recent archived version of the document
Section 5 of [RFC7990] says:
The final XML file produced by the RFC Editor will be considered
the canonical format for RFCs; it is the lowest common denominator
that holds all the information intended for an RFC.
This wording does not take into account the need to change the XML
file to fix XML errors. XML format errors, and better design
choices, have been discovered by the community since the first RFCs
were published using the XML format. In order to allow the RFC
Editor to publish correct XML for all RFCs, Section 5 of [RFC7990] is
updated to say:
The XML file produced by the RFC Editor will be considered the
canonical format for RFCs; it is the lowest common denominator
that holds all the information intended for an RFC. The RFC
Editor may change the file over time to incorporate changes in the
XML format. The RFC Editor must also make available all earlier
versions of the XML file.
[[ There is no need to bikeshed how the RFC Editor will make these
available. They will propose a method, and the community will tell
them if that's OK. ]]
3. IANA Considerations
This document has no IANA considerations.
4. Security Considerations
This document has the same security considerations as [RFC7990].
Those are:
Changing the format for RFCs involves modifying a great number of
components to publication. Understanding those changes and the
implications for the entire tool chain is critical so as to avoid
unintended bugs that would allow unintended changes to text.
Unintended changes to text could in turn corrupt a standard,
practice, or critical piece of information about a protocol.
5. References
5.1. Normative References
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[RFC7990] Flanagan, H., "RFC Format Framework", RFC 7990,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7990, December 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7990>.
5.2. Informative References
[RFC6635] Kolkman, O., Ed., Halpern, J., Ed., and IAB, "RFC Editor
Model (Version 2)", RFC 6635, DOI 10.17487/RFC6635, June
2012, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6635>.
[RFC6949] Flanagan, H. and N. Brownlee, "RFC Series Format
Requirements and Future Development", RFC 6949,
DOI 10.17487/RFC6949, May 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6949>.
Author's Address
Paul Hoffman
ICANN
Email: paul.hoffman@icann.org
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