Re: [Gendispatch] Diversity and Inclusiveness in the IETF

[Lars Eggert <[e-mail]>]

On 2021-2-25, at 21:34, Fernando Gont <[e-mail]> wrote:
> On 25/2/21 16:24, Salz, Rich wrote:
>> of git/github does represent yet another barrier.
>> Nothing requires anyone to use Git or GitHub.
> 
> If a WG somewhat requires use of github, then the barrier is there.

It may be a barrier to some. It may also *lower* the barrier for others. It's a tradeoff.

For example: The QUIC WG uses GitHub extensively. That has made it very easy for the engineers that are implementing QUIC stacks at various organizations to participate in the WG, because much of that development already happens on GitHub and so the WG process is more approachable. For many of these engineers, QUIC is their first involvement in the IETF, and using tools and workflows that are familiar hence lowers the bar for their participation. On the flip side, several longtime IETF participants were not very familiar with GitHub and its workflows, and the WG's heavy use of them required some adjustment, making it a bit more challenging for them for a while. Personally, I believe this was a worthwhile tradeoff to make, given that we needed to manage the design of a very complex protocol, but YMMV.

Thanks,
Lars