Re: RFC 2119 terms, ALL CAPS vs lower case

Ofer Inbar <cos@aaaaa.org> Sat, 19 May 2012 19:39 UTC

Return-Path: <cos@mip.polyamory.org>
X-Original-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Delivered-To: ietf@ietfa.amsl.com
Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 381B721F8631 for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Sat, 19 May 2012 12:39:14 -0700 (PDT)
X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at amsl.com
X-Spam-Flag: NO
X-Spam-Score: -2.599
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.599 tagged_above=-999 required=5 tests=[BAYES_00=-2.599]
Received: from mail.ietf.org ([12.22.58.30]) by localhost (ietfa.amsl.com [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with ESMTP id IMi+FfePcSq2 for <ietf@ietfa.amsl.com>; Sat, 19 May 2012 12:39:13 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from mip.polyamory.org (mip.aaaaa.org [199.201.145.10]) by ietfa.amsl.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id A2CFB21F8630 for <ietf@ietf.org>; Sat, 19 May 2012 12:39:13 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by mip.polyamory.org (Postfix, from userid 1002) id DC78C10760; Sat, 19 May 2012 15:39:04 -0400 (EDT)
Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 15:39:04 -0400
From: Ofer Inbar <cos@aaaaa.org>
To: Brian E Carpenter <brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: RFC 2119 terms, ALL CAPS vs lower case
Message-ID: <20120519193904.GD335@mip.aaaaa.org>
References: <562A61B995B24BD854A4D154@[192.168.0.2]> <m262bwchr9.wl%randy@psg.com> <01OFJXXZJB2I0006TF@mauve.mrochek.com> <3AAB0DB9-5E51-4117-B2BB-851700FD9CDC@gmail.com> <01OFK8GNXASC0006TF@mauve.mrochek.com> <384732C7-C0D6-4D00-B1A8-2B9B86587264@gmail.com> <m2396x73az.wl%randy@psg.com> <4FB7424C.8070508@gmail.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Disposition: inline
In-Reply-To: <4FB7424C.8070508@gmail.com>
User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.3i
Organization: American Association Against Acronym Abuse
Cc: IETF list discussion <ietf@ietf.org>
X-BeenThere: ietf@ietf.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12
Precedence: list
List-Id: IETF-Discussion <ietf.ietf.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/options/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf>
List-Post: <mailto:ietf@ietf.org>
List-Help: <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=help>
List-Subscribe: <https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf>, <mailto:ietf-request@ietf.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 19 May 2012 19:39:14 -0000

As a reader of RFCs, I've come to expect that 2119 words are always
capitalized, and that when the same words appear in lowercase or mixed
case they're not being used in the 2119 sense.  This seems to be a de
facto standard, even though 2119 doesn't require it.  I'm in favor of
continuing with this standard since I think most readers of RFCs have
grown to expect it, but there doesn't seem to be a need to make any
change.

Two things I like:

 - Randy's new suggested boilerplate

 - Avoiding using 2119-like words in lowercase when other wording
 would work equally well, at the author's discretion.  That seems
 like a reasonable practice, but trying to define and enforce it
 would be far too much trouble and have silly unintended consequences.

So perhaps if Randy's new suggested boilerplate could be added as an
erratum to 2119, clearly labeled an optional suggestion, I think that
might be useful.  But don't change the rules.  2119 works well as is IMO.
  -- Cos