"professional" in an IETF context

[Keith Moore <[e-mail]>]

On 10/31/21 11:18 AM, Miles Fidelman wrote:

>
> I've always interpreted that as denoting actually being knowledgeable 
> about that which you speak, exercising a measure of judgement & 
> restraint, and adhering to a code of professional ethics & decorum.
>
> It's what we expect of our doctors, lawyers, and... ENGINEERS.  It is 
> an ENGINEERING Task Force, after all.  And I would hope that most of 
> us here are actually engineers, with some reasonable level of 
> engineering knowledge, experience, and professionalism. 

Lately I've been asking myself how I would define "professional" in an 
IETF context.  What I've come up with so far is (no particular order):

1. Be competent and well-prepared.
2. Let people with appointed roles do their jobs.  It's okay to publicly 
and respectfully object when you believe they've not done their jobs 
properly, and there are various remedies like appeals that can also be 
used.   But it's not ok to try to prevent them from doing their jobs.
3. Follow the Guidelines For Conduct.
4. Treat fellow participants as equals in technical discussions (while 
respecting any appointed roles they have in IETF), regardless of their 
day jobs (or lack thereof) or who they work for.
5. Whatever you’re working on, try to help build consensus or craft or 
find a compromise that can attract broad support.  Again you’re free to 
withhold support or to point out problems with a proposal, you’re free 
to offer alternative proposals, and/or to appeal formal decisions, but 
not to obstruct discussion. State/log your objections and move on (But 
you should have a reasonable expectation that such objections will not 
be forgotten and be reviewed again at last call time).

As for ethics, I'm reminded that when I earned an engineering degree I 
was encouraged to take a solemn oath to always act with regard for 
public safety.   In the Internet context I might argue that there's a 
duty to act with regard for the security and privacy needs of the public.

Keith