Re: Last Call: <draft-hoffman-tao4677bis-15.txt> (The Tao of IETF: A Novice's Guide to the Internet Engineering Task Force) to Informational RFC

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

--On Friday, June 08, 2012 12:49 -0700 Paul Hoffman
<[e-mail]> wrote:

> I am supporting not putting anything about appeals to the ISOC
> Board in the Tao. They do not apply to novices.

Paul, that suggests something else which the Tao does sort of
say but maybe not clearly enough in context.  A novice really
shouldn't attempt to exercise any of our processes, especially
the more advanced/complex ones like appeals, without either a
lot of observation or seeking out advice and guidance.   It is
too easy to get tangled up in things or have an
almost-reasonable request or suggestion rejected because it is
badly presented.   Fortunately the community is ultimately
pretty friendly to newcomers/novices.  While that friendliness
may not express itself proactively, I've encountered very few
people who would not try to help get a novice pointed in the
right direction if asked for advice.  

IMO, the more clearly and broadly that can be said the better.

    john