The RFC Series has come to a crossroads where questions must be answered regarding how the Series should be managed, the role of the RFC Series Editor, and the oversight of the RFC Editor function. The RFC Editor publishes RFCs for the IETF, the IRTF, the IAB, and the Independent Submissions stream. Those RFCs are referred to by other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), by organizations and governments in their procurement processes, by academics, and more. Decisions on the future of the RFC Editor and the RFC Series needs to include input from both the producers and the consumers of RFCs.

I am reaching out to different groups and organizations so that they may be a part of figuring out how to answer those questions. It is worth noting that I am not trying to get to a final answer on what the future of the RFC Editor and the RFC Series should be; I’m trying to reach consensus on who should be making those decisions. So, with that in mind, this is an invitation to attend one of three virtual interim meetings, and/or the face-to-face meeting (with remote participation supported) at IETF 106 in Singapore.

This is not an IETF or IRTF activity, but we are holding this discussion under the IETF and IRTF policies described in the Note Well (https://www.ietf.org/about/note-well/). This is to ensure consistent and well-understood policies, particularly relating to appropriate behavior, privacy, etc. To the extent that topics of discussion might comprise input to IETF or IRTF and involve regular participants in each, this ensures that these discussions are covered under the rules of those bodies.

Interim Meeting slides, meetings 1 and 2

Updated slides, meeting 3

1. Administrivia

• Meeting will be recorded
• Note Well

2. Acknowledging possible models

• The RFC Editor as a wholly independent entity
• The RFC Editor as an IAB/RSOC managed function
• The RFC Editor as an IETF LLC managed function

3. Identifying how to handle next steps:

• Who manages the community discussion?
• Who needs to be invited to the table?
• Who calls consensus?

• https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-carpenter-request-for-comments/
• https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-iab-fiftyyears/
• https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4844
• https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6635
• https://www.ietf.org/about/note-well/
• Reports from previous meetings (see below)

WebEx Recording

Meeting Report

WebEx Recording

Meeting Report

Updated slides

WebEx Recording

Meeting Report