Re: [I18nrp] Was there ever a formal I18N directorate?

[John C Klensin <[e-mail]>]

Spencer,

Top post and uncharacteristically short message:

I don't think so although it was discussed a few times.

The reason, IIR, is that, during the times when it was
discussed, we typically had an active or very recently concluded
WG (and only one) focused on core i18n issues and rarely more
than one such WG at the time.   If the IESG needed advice, they
could refer the questions to that WG (something they have always
been able to do) and be reasonably sure that they could get a
competent response.  Only in recent years have there been signs
of so little energy that such a referral would have low odds of
producing useful results.

    john




--On Thursday, June 7, 2018 12:49 -0500 Spencer Dawkins at IETF
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> Dear I18Ners,
> 
> We're running off the edge of history for most of the IESG,
> but you folks would know the answer to this.
> 
> There have been a few references to an Internationalization
> Directorate, as if one existed in the past.
> 
> I know about the IAB's (now-concluded) Internationalization
> Program, mostly because I was on the IAB when we created it,
> but I don't remember an actual IETF Internationalization
> Directorate.
> 
> That's not surprising - I've done a lot of work on binary
> protocols, and much less on anything that would be
> internationalized - but no one on the BOF coordination call(*)
> this week could remember if the IETF ever having that specific
> thing.
> 
> Have we?
> 
> Thanks in advance for clues ...
> 
> Spencer
> 
> (*) to be fair, not all the IESG and IAB were able to
> participate in the BOF coordination call, but most of us were
> present.