[clouds] Cloud-APPS BoF request and list status
Peter Saint-Andre <stpeter@stpeter.im> Wed, 02 February 2011 16:29 UTC
Return-Path: <stpeter@stpeter.im>
X-Original-To: clouds@core3.amsl.com
Delivered-To: clouds@core3.amsl.com
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by core3.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 44FA63A6D7B for <clouds@core3.amsl.com>; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 08:29:04 -0800 (PST)
X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at amsl.com
X-Spam-Flag: NO
X-Spam-Score: -102.586
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-102.586 tagged_above=-999 required=5 tests=[AWL=0.013, BAYES_00=-2.599, USER_IN_WHITELIST=-100]
Received: from mail.ietf.org ([64.170.98.32]) by localhost (core3.amsl.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id B6+psfqi1tGw for <clouds@core3.amsl.com>; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 08:29:02 -0800 (PST)
Received: from stpeter.im (stpeter.im [207.210.219.233]) by core3.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id CF64C3A6D78 for <clouds@ietf.org>; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 08:28:59 -0800 (PST)
Received: from squire.local (dsl-251-175.dynamic-dsl.frii.net [216.17.251.175]) (Authenticated sender: stpeter) by stpeter.im (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 89E3B400F6 for <clouds@ietf.org>; Wed, 2 Feb 2011 09:49:11 -0700 (MST)
Message-ID: <4D498711.2050003@stpeter.im>
Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:32:17 -0700
From: Peter Saint-Andre <stpeter@stpeter.im>
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.5; en-US; rv:1.9.2.13) Gecko/20101207 Thunderbird/3.1.7
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: "clouds@ietf.org" <clouds@ietf.org>
X-Enigmail-Version: 1.1.1
OpenPGP: url=http://www.saint-andre.com/me/stpeter.asc
Content-Type: multipart/signed; protocol="application/pkcs7-signature"; micalg="sha1"; boundary="------------ms030803050900090200060901"
Subject: [clouds] Cloud-APPS BoF request and list status
X-BeenThere: clouds@ietf.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.9
Precedence: list
List-Id: Clouds pre-BOF discussion list <clouds.ietf.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/clouds>, <mailto:clouds-request@ietf.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/clouds>
List-Post: <mailto:clouds@ietf.org>
List-Help: <mailto:clouds-request@ietf.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/clouds>, <mailto:clouds-request@ietf.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:29:04 -0000
Folks, during yesterday's BoF Coordination Call, the joint IAB and IESG decided to reject the request for a "Cloud-APPS" Birds of a Feather (BoF) session at IETF 80 in Prague. In essence, numerous IAB and IESG members expressed concerns about the lack of a clearly defined engineering problem that would be appropriate for solving within the limited scope of an IETF working group. Furthermore, many IAB and IESG members also are not confident that the lack of a clearly defined engineering problem can be overcome on this list, given (a) the unfocused nature of the discussions here and (b) the overly broad topic (anything to do with "clouds"). Therefore, as one of the Area Directors for the Applications Area (under which the clouds@ietf.org list is slotted), I shall ask the IETF Secretariat to close this list. I (or other IESG/IAB members) might be open to starting a new list in the future devoted to a specific engineering topic (e.g., a virtual desktop protocol). However, before starting such a list I for one would need to see that the proponents of such work have learned some of the lessons that knowledgeable people with IETF experience have been trying to impart to folks on this list over the last year, including: 1. Focus on a problem statement and proposed charter, not on early solution work or wide-ranging surveys. 2. Focus on protocols, not on services, frameworks, or architectures. 3. Focus on what protocols you can reuse, what protocols you need to extend, and what protocols you might need to invent from scratch. 4. Focus on engineering in a 12- to 18-month time horizon. 5. Focus on a modular approach, identifying modules that (mostly) fit into one IETF area. When working groups get formed at the IETF, it's usually because the proponents have been focused in the ways just described. As mentioned, one of the primary concerns about the clouds list has been the unfocused nature of the discussions. Although some IAB and IESG members appear to agree that cloud computing presents an interesting and important deployment scenario, IETF people are engineers and tend to focus on engineering problems. It's not enough to say "we need to do this work because it's cloud-related"; it's better to say "here is an interesting and important engineering problem that just happens to arise in cloud computing deployment scenarios". Once you've gotten that far, you really need to demonstrate the following (to quote RFC 5434): - there is a problem that needs solving, and the IETF is the right group to attempt solving it. - there is a critical mass of participants willing to work on the problem (e.g., write drafts, review drafts, etc.). - the scope of the problem is well defined and understood, that is, people generally understand what the WG will work on (and what it won't) and what its actual deliverables will be. - there is agreement that the specific deliverables (i.e., proposed documents) are the right set. - it is believed that the WG has a reasonable probability of having success (i.e., in completing the deliverables in its charter in a timely fashion). That is a relatively simple checklist, but over the past year there has been very little progress toward completing those tasks. Rather than leave this list open indefinitely, it seems more appropriate to close the list and encourage folks who are interested in engineering problems that happen to arise in cloud computing deployment scenarios to (a) do some hard thinking, (b) continue to write Internet-Drafts if they so desire, and (c) perhaps work to propose a very tightly defined working group at some point in the future. Continuing to flail about is not productive for the proponents, for people who are currently serving in IETF leadership roles (IESG and IAB members), or for IETF participants as a whole. If you have any questions regarding rejection of the BoF request or closing of this list, please let me know. Peter Saint-Andre, as co-AD of the Applications Area
- [clouds] Cloud-APPS BoF request and list status Peter Saint-Andre
- Re: [clouds] Cloud-APPS BoF request and list stat… Bhumip Khasnabish