https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-iab-protocol-maintenance https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-iab-protocol-mai... > The robustness principle

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-iab-protocol-maintenance https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-iab-protocol-mai... > The robustness principle, often phrased as "be conservative in what you send, and liberal in what you accept", has long guided the design and implementation of Internet protocols. The posture this statement advocates promotes interoperability in the short term, but can negatively affect the protocol ecosystem over time. For a protocol that is actively maintained, the robustness principle can, and should, be avoided. (As an IAB draft they’ve called it protocol-maintenance, but I liked the original name Thomson gave it: postel-was-wrong.)