Re: [Gen-art] Gen-ART LC Review of draft-ietf-eai-simpledowngrade-07

[Barry Leiba <[e-mail]>]

>> -- Abstract should mention that this updates 3501
>
> Really? A detail of this document updates a minor detail of that document,
> that's hardly what I would expect to see in a single-paragraph summary.
>
> I know someone who likes to repeat the Subject in the first line of the
> email body text. Just in case I didn't see it the first time, I suppose.

There's no need to be flippant; this is called out by the idnits
program, and Ben is highlighting it.  It's not a big deal, but there
are reasons for it:

1. The "updates" (and "obsoletes") information is not in the text of
the published RFC, but is part of the RFC's metadata.  Not everyone
who will look at the RFC will see the metadata.  Some will see only
Title and Abstract.  And so on.  It's not just frivolity to put
something in the Abstract.

2. We also like to have an *explanation* in the Introduction, saying
why a document updates another.  For that part, it's not just "This
document updates RFC 3501," but "This document updates RFC 3501
because it adds [this] and changes [that]."

Barry