Re: what is rsync, was Call for Community Feedback: Retiring IETF FTP Service

[tom petch <[e-mail]>]

On 26/11/2020 22:00, John C Klensin wrote:
>
> --On Thursday, November 26, 2020 14:11 -0500 Keith Moore
> <[e-mail]> wrote:
>
>> On 11/26/20 12:08 PM, John Levine wrote:
>>
>>> If you're wondering if there's an RFC for it, nope. RFC 5781
>>> specifies the rsync: URI but refers back
>>> tohttp://rsync.samba.org/  for details on rsync.
>>>
>>> I don't suppose anyone would object if we made an RFC out of
>>> the spec but given that the tech report, thesis, and multiple
>>> implementations are widely available without restriction
>>> (other than GPL on some of the code) it doesn't seem worth a
>>> lot of effort.
>>
>> I remember when IETF cared about making standards and
>> promoting broad interoperability.
>
> Of course, there would be another way to do this, one that would
> create an RFC but not a standard.  One could cobble a document
> together that described what rsync was all about in the abstract
> and introduction, include the references that have popped up in
> this thread (and probably including a lot of text by reference),
> and then hand it over to the ISE for publication of a
> description of a protocol that is widely used in the community
> for the information of the community.  If the IESG then wanted
> to take such a document over and classify it as standards track,
> I presume no one would object as long as they did not create a
> working group that had the goal of either hanging bags on the
> side of the thing or improving it enough that it was not
> interoperable with deployed implementations.
>
> But there is not much evidence, in this case, that anyone cares
> even enough to do that... and, if no one wants to invest even
> that level of effort, then I think we need to agree with John
> Levine's conclusion.

Back in 2008, sidr chose rsync as the foundation of its protocol.  It 
referenced rsync.samba.org.  See, for example, RFC6480.

Tom Petch









>
>      john
>
>
> .
>