Internet DRAFT - draft-galvin-maillists
draft-galvin-maillists
Network Working Group J. Galvin, Ed.
Internet-Draft eList eXpress LLC
Expires: December 21, 2006 June 19, 2006
IETF Mailing List Principles
draft-galvin-maillists-00
Status of this Memo
By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any
applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware
have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes
aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that
other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.
The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
This Internet-Draft will expire on December 21, 2006.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).
Abstract
A model is suggested for guiding the management of IETF mailing
lists, including a set of bullet points for the principles and
structure of that guidance. The IESG could use this to develop and
evolve the procedures for the operation and use of IETF mailing
lists.
Acknowledgements
The following team of individuals worked together to develop the
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
ideas and concepts suggested in this document. draft (listed in
alphabetical order): Brian E Carpenter, James M Galvin, Eric Gray,
Martin Hannigan, Sam Hartman, Eliot Lear, Lucy E. Lynch, Margaret
Wasserman.
Discussion of this Draft
Please direct all comments, suggestions, and questions rearding this
draft to the following IETF mailing list:
ietf-maillists@lists.elistx.com
To subscribe to that mailing list you may send a message with the
single word "subscribe" in the body to:
ietf-maillists-request@lists.elistx.com
Alternatively, you may visit the web-based subscription manager at:
<http://lists.elistx.com/subscribe>
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
1. Introduction
o Although the IETF has face-to-face meetings on a regular schedule,
all official work of the IETF is conducted on its mailing lists.
o Need to create uniformity in the management of IETF mailing lists.
o Need to create some structure to assign authority and delegate
responsibilities.
o Need to be flexible and allow for rapid evolution.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
2. Definitions
o mailing list - This is a generic term that refers to any IETF
mailing list. The following categories of IETF mailing lists are
defined according to their expected operational characteristics,
which may be changed with the approval of the relevant area
director.
o administrative list - a category of mailing list for which
subscriptions are by invitation only, e.g., iab, iesg, wgchairs,
or a document design team list.
o announcement list - a category of mailing list for which messages
are moderated according to relatively strict guidelines;
subscriptions are open to anyone. Examples include ietf-announce,
i-d-announce, or irtf-announce.
o discussion list - a category of mailing list for which
subscriptions are open to anyone, subscribers submit messages
without restriction, and non-subscriber messages are moderated.
Examples include working group mailing lists.
o open list - a mailing list characterized as "open" permits anyone
to subscribe to receive messages. Such a list may or may not
permit subscribers or anyone else to submit messages.
o closed list - a mailing list characterized as "closed" restricts
who may be subscribed to receive messages. Such a list may or may
not permit subscribers or anyone else to submit messages.
o list owner - this person is responsible for ensuring the mailing
list exists, is operational, and is used in accordance with its
charter. Unless otherwise specified, for IETF working groups the
working group chair is the list owner.
o list host - this person is responsible for the technical operation
of the mailing list. The list host MUST be someone who has all of
the necessary privileges and expertise for the responsibility at
and on the site where the mailing list is hosted. If a mailing
list is hosted in the "@ietf.org" domain then "webmaster@ietf.org"
is the list host.
o list administrator - this person is responsible for administrative
issues of the mailing list, including subscribe, unsubscribe, and
archive issues not related to technical operations.
o list moderator - this person is responsible for message content
submission issues of the mailing list.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
o list sergeant-at-arms - this person is responsible for behavior
issues of those who submit messages to the mailing list.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
3. Model
o Assign authority for the management of IETF mailing lists to the
IESG.
o Community will develop a set of principles (a draft of some are
proposed here) to be specified in a BCP to guide the management.
o IESG will develop policies and procedures for the management of
IETF mailing lists. The BCP (developed by the community) will
specify a streamlined process for the announcement, review, and
enactment of these policies and procedures. Some policies and
procedures already exist.
o IESG will create a group -- for example, a mailing list resolution
committee or a mailing list directorate -- to which to delegate
the responsibility of execution of the policies and procedures.
This aligns well with existing procedures because it leaves the
IESG in the appeals path, relieves the IESG of most of the
adminstrative workload, and provides the desired uniformity in the
management of mailing lists.
o The BCP would need to include appropriate guidance for the
constitution of the group, the rules by which it operates, and the
appeals process.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
4. Principles and Structure
o IESG has responsibility and authority to create, manage, and
update mailing list management policies and procedures, and is the
final arbiter in any dispute regarding the operation of an IETF
mailing list, as detailed elsewhere in this document.
o Each IETF working group MUST have one open discussion list to use
to conduct its business. A working group MAY have one or more
closed mailing list(s) for use by a design team, editors, or other
sub-groups of the working group.
o Unless otherwise specified the working group chair is the owner of
all the working group mailing lists. The working group chair,
with the approval of the relevant area director, is responsible
for identifying one or more individuals to serve in the mailing
list management roles defined elsewhere in this document.
o In general, each role SHOULD have more than one person assigned
and a working group chair SHOULD NOT be the only person in a
mailing list role, except that the working group chair may be the
sole list owner. Exceptions are only permitted with the approval
of the relevant area director.
o Any action that effects the distribution or content of any message
submitted for an IETF mailing list MUST be visible to and
auditable by the subscribers of that mailing list and the IESG.
Such actions MAY be visible to and auditable by the IETF
community. A subscriber MUST have reasonable access at all times.
IESG access MAY be provided upon request to the working group
chair or any mailing list role.
o Submitting messages to an IETF mailing list is a privilege not a
right. All submissions MUST be within scope and conform to
reasonable and accepted standards of behavior for IETF mailing
lists. All such submissions MUST be distributed to all
subscribers. This privilege MAY be revoked.
o The IETF Secretariat maintains an archive of all mailing lists.
The mailing list host MUST ensure that the central archive
subscriber address remains subscribed to the mailing list.
o Anyone MUST be permitted to subscribe to receive messages
distributed by any open working group mailing list.
o A working group's open mailing lists' archive MUST be publicly
accessible.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
o It MUST be possible to subscribe or unsubscribe from an IETF
mailing list using an email-based manager. An IETF mailing list
MAY include a web-based manager for managing subscriptions.
o All issues or appeals of any action or decision regarding the
operation of an IETF mailing list MUST be addressed first to the
working group chair. If a satisfactory resolution is not
forthcoming the issue may be referred to the "mailing list group".
Decisions of the "mailing list group" may be appealed to the IESG.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
5. Mailing List Group
o Need discussion of how this group is constituted. Options include
serving at the pleasure of the general area director, selected by
NOMCOM, drawn from the pool of working group chairs, some
combination of all of the above, or something else entirely.
o Need discussion of its operation. Suggestion is a consensus body
whose deliberations are private but it must release a detailed
decision that includes all relevant and appropriate documentation
and supporting material.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
6. Setting Policies and Procedures
o IESG has specified a few policies and procedures already. A
central location needs to be identified for collecting them and
all future entries for ease of access.
o Need discussion of how policies and procedures are enacted.
Suggestion is that the IESG announces them with a 4 week last
call. If there are no substantial issues then they automatically
approve at the end of the 4 weeks. This is similar to what has
been done on many existing policies and procedures.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
Author's Address
James M. Galvin (editor)
eList eXpress LLC
607 Trixsam Road
Sykesville, MD 21784
US
Phone: +1 410-549-4619
Fax: +1 410-795-7978
Email: galvin+ietf@elistx.com
URI: http://www.elistx.com/
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft IETF Mailing List Principles June 2006
Intellectual Property Statement
The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information
on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at
ietf-ipr@ietf.org.
Disclaimer of Validity
This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). This document is subject
to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
Acknowledgment
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
Internet Society.
Galvin Expires December 21, 2006 [Page 12]
