[rfc-i] RFC Standard Process question

[Harald Tveit Alvestrand]

--On 7. mai 2004 08:54 -0700 Aaron Falk <falk at ISI.EDU> wrote (quoting):

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

Yes, this is possible, and has been done.

>> 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".

The case that WOULD reset to Proposed is if you take away something, and 
replace it with something new to replace it. That would be an added feature.

The other case is if you take away something that was required in order to 
have the functionality the protocol needs (for instance taking away all 
security functions, where security is a requirement). In that case, it's 
not likely to advance, because the resulting protocol would not be of 
Internet quality.

                Harald