Re: [Gendispatch] Geography and the IETF mission

[Brian E Carpenter <[e-mail]>]

On 14-May-20 02:14, John R Levine wrote:
> On Wed, 13 May 2020, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
>>>> The IETF owes no loyalty to any particular economic, geographical or cultural groupings.
>>>
>>> We seem pretty committed to speaking English.
>>
>> True. But that's the closest thing the world (at least, the high tech world) has to a lingua franca these days.
> 
> There are orgnizations we all know that work in multiple languages with 
> simultaneous translation in sessions and translated versions of their 
> documents. I agree that it makes sense for the IETF to work in English, 
> but I've heard more than one complaint that we're excluding people who 
> don't speak English.
> 
> Also, given that the IETF remains dominated by old white anglophone guys 
> like you and me, I wouldn't make such a statement without a lot more 
> thought about what it implies.

We did, apparently, think about it when publishing the Mission Statement:

"4.4.  The Reach of the Internet

   The Internet is a global phenomenon.  The people interested in its
   evolution are from every culture under the sun and from all walks of
   life.  The IETF puts its emphasis on technical competence, rough
   consensus and individual participation, and needs to be open to
   competent input from any source.  The IETF uses the English language
   for its work is because of its utility for working in a global
   context."

All I'm suggesting to add is the "owes no loyalty" frill on that.

     Brian