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RFC 8890 - The Internet is for End Users
The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) has published RFC8890, The Internet is for End Users, arguing that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) should ground its decisions in what’s good for people who use the Internet, and that it should take positive steps to achieve that.
Why does this need to be said? Is it going too far? Who else could they favour, and why should you care? As author of the RFC and a member of the IAB that passed it, here are my thoughts.
How the Internet is made
The IETF plays a central role in the design and operation of the Internet. Formed in the 1980s by the engineers who created several of the Internet’s core technologies, it is the primary venue for documenting the technical design of the Internet, and has overseen development of protocols like TCP, IP, DNS and HTTP.
Companies, governments and other organisations don’t officially participate in the IETF; people only represent themselves. There isn’t even a concept of membership. Instead, decisions about specifications are made by ‘rough consensus’ — instead of formal voting, the IETF tries to find the best solution for each issue, based upon the ideas, comments and concerns brought to it.
‘Best' doesn't mean the choice that has the most companies supporting it; it’s the one that has the best technical arguments behind it. Working Group chairs measure that consensus; if someone thinks they got it wrong, they can appeal it through a chain of authorities selected for their experience.
Or, in the words of the unofficial IETF credo: ‘We reject kings, presidents and voting. We believe in rough consensus and running code.’
Technical or political? Both
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