Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers
chl@clw.cs.man.ac.uk (Charles Lindsey) Thu, 20 September 2001 16:13 UTC
Received: from localhost (localhost [[UNIX: localhost]]) by above.proper.com (8.11.6/8.11.3) id f8KGD7V24579 for ietf-822-bks; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:13:07 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from probity.mcc.ac.uk (probity.mcc.ac.uk [130.88.200.94]) by above.proper.com (8.11.6/8.11.3) with ESMTP id f8KGD6D24575 for <ietf-822@imc.org>; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 09:13:06 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from nessie.mcc.ac.uk ([130.88.200.20] ident=root) by probity.mcc.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 2.05 #7) id 15k6Rd-00042c-00 for ietf-822@imc.org; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 17:12:57 +0100
Received: from clw.cs.man.ac.uk (clerew.man.ac.uk [194.66.22.208]) by nessie.mcc.ac.uk (8.9.3/8.8.8) with ESMTP id RAA04034 for <ietf-822@imc.org>; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 17:12:30 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from news@clw.cs.man.ac.uk)
Received: (from news@localhost) by clw.cs.man.ac.uk (8.9.1b+Sun/8.9.1) id MAA26112 for ietf-822@imc.org; Thu, 20 Sep 2001 12:12:12 +0100 (BST)
To: ietf-822@imc.org
Xref: clerew local.mime:744
Newsgroups: local.mime
Path: clerew!chl
From: chl@clw.cs.man.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers
Message-ID: <GJyH90.JwF@clw.cs.man.ac.uk>
X-Newsreader: NN version 6.5.2 (NOV)
References: <5.1.0.14.2.20010919115724.00a007d0@joy.songbird.com>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 10:03:00 +0000
Lines: 73
Sender: owner-ietf-822@mail.imc.org
Precedence: bulk
List-Archive: <http://www.imc.org/ietf-822/mail-archive/>
List-ID: <ietf-822.imc.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:ietf-822-request@imc.org?body=unsubscribe>
In <5.1.0.14.2.20010919115724.00a007d0@joy.songbird.com> Graham Klyne <GK@ninebynine.org> writes: >The usual IETF way to deal with these situations is to have an IANA >registry of values. But none exists for message headers (I can find no >reference to RFC822 or email messages in >http://www.iana.org/numbers.htm). The nearest to a registry we have seems >to be Jacob Palme's RFC 2076 and more recent Internet Draft updates >(currently draft-palme-mailext-headers-05.txt). Yes, I agree that this is a task for IANA, but not tied irrevocably to RFC 2076, as others have said. This issue has already been discussed on the USEFOR Working Group, which could see much benefit in such a scheme. Essentially, there are three sets of protocols which use headers in this style: Mail (RFC 2822, plus many extensions for MIME and much else) Netnews (RFC1036, or usefor in due course) HTPP (RFC 2616) There are many headers which are used in two, or even all three, of those protocols with essentially the same meaning (or with small but carefully documented differences). Therefore, what we need is an IANA Registry for header names which would record which protocol(s) used it, and the RFC(s) where its usage was defined (that might be up to 3 RFCs if all of Mail, Netnews and HTTP were involved, and even more if a header was defined in one RFC, but had some extended usage added in another). Here I am speaking of both standards-track and experimental protocol RFCs (since the prime objective is to prevent two independent groups trying to define the same header). But I would go further than that. I would also allow IANA to issue provisional registrations for proposed new headers. There would have to be stringent conditions for these, such as the existence of an internet draft defining the proposed new header (thus provisional registrations would lapse after 6 months in the same way as internet drafts). I understand that there are already precedents for IANA to issue provisional registrations (such as for Port Numbers, I believe). The advantage of that scheme is that someone proposing a new header with the intent that it would eventually see widespread use can get it registered and immediately start using it on an experimental basis. Currently, all he can do is to use an X-Header; then people start using the X-Header and its name gets built into various pieces of software; then someone decides to make it official in an RFC; and then they have to change it to something different without an X-, and all the working software has to change again :-( . We are currently going through that process as regards the commands in the NNTP protocol. That is the particular aspect of the matter which has been duscussed on USEFOR, and is why I believe USEFOR would support such a move. But of course, whoever proposes such a header has to show evidence of his good intentions by at least producing an internet draft (which should be enough to deter all but the most determined of the pranksters). Please can someone enlighten us as to the mechanisms necessary to establish a new IANA registry? Does one write an RFC instructing/authorising them to do it, or is it done just by some edict of IESG? If an RFC is needed, then I suspect this List is a good place to prepare the draft, but of course we need to bring the News and HTTP people on board (plus some input from IANA, of course). -- Charles H. Lindsey ---------At Home, doing my own thing------------------------ Tel: +44 161 436 6131 Fax: +44 161 436 6133 Web: http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~chl Email: chl@clw.cs.man.ac.uk Snail: 5 Clerewood Ave, CHEADLE, SK8 3JU, U.K. PGP: 2C15F1A9 Fingerprint: 73 6D C2 51 93 A0 01 E7 65 E8 64 7E 14 A4 AB A5
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Jacob Palme
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Jacob Palme
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Charles Lindsey
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Charles Lindsey
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Kai Henningsen
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Charles Lindsey
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Charles Lindsey
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers D. J. Bernstein
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Charles Lindsey
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers ned+ietf-822
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Lawrence Greenfield
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Dave Crocker
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Dave Crocker
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers ned+ietf-822
- Locating RFC [2]822 headers Graham Klyne
- Re: Loop control Craig_Everhart
- Re: Loop control Russ Allbery
- Re: Loop control Jacob Palme
- Re: Loop control James M Galvin
- Re: Loop control D. J. Bernstein
- Re: Loop control Philip Hazel
- Re: Loop control James M Galvin
- Re: Loop control Dave Crocker
- Re: Loop control Russ Allbery
- Loop control Jacob Palme
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers Keith Moore
- Re: Locating RFC [2]822 headers D. J. Bernstein