4 ms·

How crazy and bureaucratic the Internet has grown! RFC #1 was basically a one-pager: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=1#gsc.tab=0 https://www.rfc-archive

How crazy and bureaucratic the Internet has grown! RFC #1 was basically a one-pager: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=1#gsc.tab=0 https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=1#gsc.tab=0 RFC #371 was literally a conference advertisement: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=371#gsc.tab=0 https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=371#gsc.tab=0

chrismorgan 2y ago
> RFC #1 was basically a one-pager You have a strange notion of “one-pager”. It’s eleven pages; strip headers, footers, excess blank lines, table of contents, and three diagrams, and it’s still over 300 lines (some 70 blank) and 2000 words.
thih9 2y ago
There is even a “List of April Fools' Day RFCs” article on wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day_Request_for_Comments https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day_Request_f...
- peerllc 2y ago
  Peter Salus and Thom Limoncelli collected those in book form a decade or so back that we published and is still in print: https://www.peerllc.com/peer-to-peer-books/the-complete-april-fools-day-rfcs/ https://www.peerllc.com/peer-to-peer-books/the-complete-apri...
OhMeadhbh 2y ago
And here I was thinking the internet was just for cat videos! Seriously though... IETF process is the way it is because of a long history of humans arguing with each other over process, intent and interpretation. Add to that all the drama about IP in the 90s and you get a perfect storm of bureaucracy. But the weird thing is we're probably better off with the bureaucracy than without it. I only saw a bit of the process in 2008-2010 when I convened several BOF sessions and chartered a working group, but it did seem like the rules were there to prevent shenanigans. I learned PLENTY of history in the Application area, none of which seemed to be documented anywhere. I would guess people had different recollections of that history anyway. IETF process is byzantine, but if you ask around, the greybeards have a story or two describing why each bit of bureaucratic process was introduced.
brabel 2y ago
> I am organizing a computer communication network demonstration to run in parallel with the sessions. This demonstration will provide attendees with the opportunity to gain first hand experience in the use of a computer network. Definitely worth of a RFC!

chrismorgan 2y ago

> RFC #1 was basically a one-pager You have a strange notion of “one-pager”. It’s eleven pages; strip headers, footers, excess blank lines, table of contents, and three diagrams, and it’s still over 300 lines (some 70 blank) and 2000 words.

thih9 2y ago

There is even a “List of April Fools' Day RFCs” article on wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day_Request_for_Comments https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day_Request_f...

peerllc 2y ago
Peter Salus and Thom Limoncelli collected those in book form a decade or so back that we published and is still in print: https://www.peerllc.com/peer-to-peer-books/the-complete-april-fools-day-rfcs/ https://www.peerllc.com/peer-to-peer-books/the-complete-apri...

OhMeadhbh 2y ago

And here I was thinking the internet was just for cat videos! Seriously though... IETF process is the way it is because of a long history of humans arguing with each other over process, intent and interpretation. Add to that all the drama about IP in the 90s and you get a perfect storm of bureaucracy. But the weird thing is we're probably better off with the bureaucracy than without it. I only saw a bit of the process in 2008-2010 when I convened several BOF sessions and chartered a working group, but it did seem like the rules were there to prevent shenanigans. I learned PLENTY of history in the Application area, none of which seemed to be documented anywhere. I would guess people had different recollections of that history anyway. IETF process is byzantine, but if you ask around, the greybeards have a story or two describing why each bit of bureaucratic process was introduced.

brabel 2y ago

> I am organizing a computer communication network demonstration to run in parallel with the sessions. This demonstration will provide attendees with the opportunity to gain first hand experience in the use of a computer network. Definitely worth of a RFC!