[Bier] RFC8279: Request for authors to update RFC

[Greg Shepherd <[e-mail]>]

A big "thank you" to all WG members who have worked so hard to get BIER to
where it is today. And to no surprise, our work is not done. The following
bullet points are from the Chairs' technical summary previously sent to the
list:

• BIER encoding is specified in RFC8296
• Alia Atlas: “IANA code-points don’t change.  This is the reason why BIER
began as experimental - narrow
        point in hourglass”
• The encoding at the “narrow point of the hourglass” – the forwarding
plane –  is the foundation from which
        the rest of the architecture grows.
• This was the position of the IESG and the BIER WG ADs at the time of the
original WG Experimental Charter.
• This is admittedly historic/institutional knowledge of those involved in
the WG from the beginning. But it is also
        a core tenet of the layered and scalable architecture of the
Internet and was erroneously assumed as
        well-understood by the original WG contributors. The WG needs to
update the BIER architecture to make this
        responsibility clear for all future contributors.

RFC8279 began as a draft at the very beginning of the WG. It has since been
made clear that the authors at that time had assumed the importance of the
forwarding plane as the foundation of architecture was well understood by
the community at large. That no longer seems to be the case. Additionally,
the draft of RFC8279 began before the draft of RFC8296 was complete, and
even before the assignment of the IEEE BIER ethertype.

This is a call for volunteers to update RFC8279 to better define BIER at
the forwarding plane, and clarify how IETF-standard encapsulation
mechanisms can be used to transit BIER packets, while preserving the core
tenet of a layered and scalable architecture of the Internet.

If you would like to tackle this update, please reply to this thread.

Thanks,
Greg
(Chairs)