[rfc-i] RFC Standard Process question

[Julian Reschke]

Hi,

I have the following question about what kind of changes are allowable 
when a specification is meant to be advanced from "Proposed" to "Draft".

Assuming a specification defines a core protocol, plus a set of features 
that are clearly marked as "optional" (so a server doesn't need to 
implement them), and in particular the protocol defines how support for 
these features can be discovered at runtime.

Is it possible to advance the base protocol to "Draft" while removing 
optional features from the document (possibly moving them into a 
separate document)?

Looking at the history of RFC2396 (currently at "Draft") indicates that 
this has happened before, and certainly this makes a lot of sense. On 
the other hand, some people are telling me that in cases like these, the 
protocol revision would need to go back to "Proposed".

Feedback appreciated,

Julian

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