[rfc-i] The scope of "Historic"

[Dave CROCKER]

On 11/29/2010 8:44 AM, Joe Touch wrote:
> Overall, in the first 50, at the least the following are clearly informational,
> not historic. IMO, Historic applies to documents that were previously standards
> or BCPs and are no longer recommended. That doesn't apply to docs that are
> informational but whose content is outdated, e.g.


Your last sentence contradicts both the letter of RFC 2026 and my own sense of 
the label's utility:

    4.2.4  Historic

    A specification that has been superseded by a more recent
    specification or is for any other reason considered to be obsolete is
    assigned to the "Historic" level.

Even an Informational document is sometimes worth noting as obsolete.  That is, 
it can be helpful to the community to put up a "proceed with caution" sign 
around the document.

By the same token, there mere fact that an Informational document is old and/or 
that no one uses what it documents does not make it "obsolete".  Historical 
should be confined to explicit community assessment that the thing is best not 
followed.

d/
-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net