At 11:58 AM 12/21/00 -0500, Ken Hornstein wrote:
>That hasn't been my experience; I've seen what can only be described as
>an "old-boy" network in operation. I'm not saying that such a thing is
>necessarily bad, just that sometimes it takes significant effort to
>overcome it if you're a newbie.
Since the IETF professes to be open, it's a good thing that we periodically
worry about the legitimacy of the claim. On the other hand, we should not
start beating ourselves up unless there is some pretty clear evidence that
actual barriers to IETF entry are inappropriate.
The IETF is a distinctive culture. Any long-standing group is.
Being open does not mean that new arrivals are free from learning the
special handshakes and the technical peculiarities of our work; they are
essential for quality of the process and quality of the specifications.
Being open means that the details of the peculiarities are accessible and
that those who do learn the incantations, design philosophies, etc., can
participate with significant influence.
The tests of this involve looking at who puts forward design ideas that are
accepted, who edits documents, chairs working groups, and becomes area
directors. Up the chain, the barriers should be more significant, of
course, since more depth of experience is to be expected.
My own observations for all of the IETF, and especially the areas I wander
around in the most -- with many of the working groups involving
participation by representatives from other, established technical
communities -- is that the IETF is quite simply an exemplar of openness.
Yes, some individuals espouse unfriendly opinions about newbies. The
subject line of this thread is a painfully good example. However we need
to be careful not to select from the usual range of opinions and claim one
or another sample is definitive.
The actual pattern of IETF community consensus is extremely friendly and
supportive for new folks who work to learn the culture and participate in
the work.
How many other standards organizations have unrestricted attendance, a
newcomer's orientation, an introductory booklet, and an extensive guide for
chairs?
d/
=-=-=-=-=
Dave Crocker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Brandenburg Consulting <www.brandenburg.com>
Tel: +1.408.246.8253, Fax: +1.408.273.6464
