Subject: [rfc-i] Upcoming Community Consultations on Next Generation RFC Model

From: Eliot Lear <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2021 14:14:38 +0200

Dear colleagues,

In March of 2020 the IAB kicked off the RFC Series Editorial Future 
Development Program, a program opened to the entire community, with an 
eye toward reviewing the RFC Editor model found in 
draft-iab-rfcefdp-rfced-model-05[1]. We are now coming to the conclusion 
of our work, and the IAB will soon begin its formal consideration, which 
is governed by RFC 4845[2]. Part of that process includes solicitation 
of community input.

The program has developed an evolution of the RFC Editor Model and a 
small change to the charter of the IAB. You can find this evolution in 
draft-iab-rfcefdp-rfced-model-05 as well as two companion drafts[3,4,5]. 
This draft brings together many different points of view, as you can see 
from the mailing list archive[6].

Here are some of the proposed changes that you may wish to know:

 1.

    The community oversees the evolution of the series by means of an
    open working group. Proposed changes that reach rough consensus will
    be reviewed by an RFC Series Approval Board (RSAB) that consists of
    the RSCE and people representing the various streams.

 2.

    The RFC Editor role is changing to that of a consulting editor (RFC
    Series Consulting Editor or RSCE). In this model, an expert will
    provide guidance to the community, the streams, and to the RPC to
    evolve the series.

 3.

    The IAB will no longer manage or oversee the RFC series. The
    community and the streams will do that. The IAB will continue to be
    in the appeal path if there are disputes.

There are a lot of things that won't change. The RPC would continue to 
handle day-to-day functions of the RFC Editor function, and authors 
should not see any immediate change in terms of how RFCs are published. 
They continue to be managed through the LLC. We will continue to benefit 
from the expertise of a professional expert, now the RSCE.

Of course, there's a lot more detail that is specified in the drafts.

This is what will soon be put forth for your comments. In the meantime, 
even though the formal comment period is not yet open, we invite you to 
review the model now and bring whatever questions you might have to the 
program when we meet on Wednesday, November 10th, at 14.30 GMT at the 
IETF meeting. Of course you can also join the mailing list[7] and 
contribute your questions and comments there.

On behalf of the program,

Brian and Eliot

[1] 
https://www.iab.org/activities/programs/rfc-editor-future-development-program/
[2] https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4845.html
[3] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-iab-rfcefdp-rfced-model-05
[4] 
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-carpenter-rfced-iab-charter-03
[5] https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-rosen-rfcefdp-update-2026-01
[6] https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/rfced-future/
[7] https://www.iab.org/mailman/listinfo/rfced-future

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