Re: [ietf-dkim] [Technical Errata Reported] RFC6376 (4926)

[Roland Turner <[e-mail]>]

On 02/08/2017 02:52 AM, Barry Leiba wrote:

> I think there's a difference between an example that includes
> "Reply-To" when it should have included "Subject" (that'd be a
> technical error) and an example that includes "Sujbect" when it should
> have included "Subject" (that'd be an editorial error)... even though
> both of those errors might cause the signature not to verify.
>
> I think an incorrect number of space characters is in the latter category.

As a passing engineer who doesn't spend that much time spelunking IETF 
processes, a question that appears to be begged here is why the 
distinction matters. This is not immediately clear from any of the 
Status and Type of RFC Errata page 
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/errata-definitions/>, the How to Report 
Errata page <https://www.rfc-editor.org/how-to-report/>, or the FAQ 
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/faq/>. There is an important distinction 
when categorising changes during the preparation of an RFC (broader 
approval is required for technical changes), but this does not appear to 
apply to errata. Are you able to throw some light on this?

(On the question that Dave has raised:

  * I'd suggest that text which - in addition to being intended for
    human readers to understand - is intended for copy+paste into the
    input of an automated tool for interpretation by that tool but which
    contains typos contains what seems more like a technical than
    editorial error, even though the technical information being
    communicated to a human reader is essentially unchanged. This
    appears consistent with the first of the examples cited on the
    errata page; in that case anyone writing a validating parser and
    having it fail on the sample would quickly recognise the reversed
    order of the tags in the text, but it is nonetheless classified as
    technical.
  * I also note that the How to Report Errata page makes specific
    mention of what to do in ambiguous cases: "Tip: If the type is not
    clear, select Technical, and add your concern to the Notes."

)

- Roland

_______________________________________________
NOTE WELL: This list operates according to
http://mipassoc.org/dkim/ietf-list-rules.html