Subject: Re: [tcpm] AD Review: draft-ietf-tcpm-icmp-attacks-09 -- boilerplate questions

From: Alfred Hönes <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:10:44 +0100 (MEZ)

Fernando Gont wrote:

>> ..
>>
> Hopefully by that time xml2rfc will already support the new boilerplate?

Definitely : NO.   Don't bet.   Manual edits needed so far.

AFAICT (based on comments from M.T.Rose and Julian Reschke),
xml2rfc is seeking new maintainer(s) and it's rather unlikely
that the toolkits it is based on (and that turned out to be much
less long-lived than expected and run out of fashion quickly)
still share a large pool of potentially suitable volunteer guru
candidates.
Maybe xml2rfc needs to be re-implemented with the current
tools of the week every time it needs to be updated.  ;-)

So we need to admit some more time, I guess.

> Or, if anybody can provide the correct boilerplate, I could manually
> edit the I-D.

[[ ==> TBD Off-list ]]

Indeed, currently you can find "normative" text (at layer 8+)
on the IETF web site in support of exclusive use of almost all
variants of now outdated boilerplate text.

Upon explanation of the recent trouble to the administrative
executives, the IETF chair has overtaken the reign.
The most recent IESG minutes available online at
  <http://www.ietf.org/iesg/minutes/2010/minutes-2010-01-07.txt>
report:

> ...
>
> 1.3 Review of Action Items
>
> ...
>
> NEW
>   o Russ Housley will make sure that the documents that specify the
>     I-D  boilerplate get updated to reflect the new alternate text.

So there's hope that the online instructions will soon be aligned
with the rules in force.

Also there's some hope that the building blocks of the I-D
and boilerplate text will be made available individually in
.txt form on the IETF or IETF Trust web pages.

Compiled RFC boilerplate based on TLP 4.0, RFC 5741, et al. can be
copied from  draft-reschke-hab-06.txt  (and there are rumors that
the RFC-Ed / RFC Production Center has made use of that I-D to
update the nroff macros they use for RFC production).

Further, there are good news regarding the long-pending project if
the IESG working on revised specific boilerplate for I-Ds.
The same minutes quoted above say:

> ...
>
> 6. Management Issue
>
> 6.1 Update to the First-Page ID Boilerplate (Lars Eggert)
>
> The management issue was discussed.  The IESG approved alternate
> text to the first page I-D boilerplate.
>
> Action item:  Russ Housley will make sure that the documents that
> specify the I-D boilerplate get updated to reflect the new alternate
> text.
>
> ...

Kind regards,
  Alfred.

---

From: Joe Touch <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:03:54 -0800

> tools of the week every time it needs to be updated.  ;-)

FWIW, this issue plagues all the tools, incl. the Word template I
maintain. The boilerplate text seems to change more frequently than RFCs
are published (I've have an RFC in "AUTH48" by RFC Editor decree for
over 400 days), and when it does, we get cryptic instructions rather
than "here's what a new ID or RFC should look like".

Joe