Re: Call for Community Feedback: Retiring IETF FTP Service

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

--On Wednesday, December 2, 2020 18:31 -0800 Martin Duke
<[e-mail]> wrote:

>  So I'm hearing that the people actually running the FTP
> service believe it to be a significant nuisance, and some
> subset of the community think that it is obviously trivial.
> Would it be too much to ask one of the FTP enthusiasts to
> volunteer to maintain it, so that those who have tired of it
> can move to other things?

Unfortunately, at least as I understood it, the claim/belief was
not [only] about its being a significant nuisance to maintain
but that it was also consuming other resources that the powers
that be didn't want to pay for any more.   Unless the latter has
changed --i.e., that the LLC would be happy to maintain the
service if someone volunteered to maintain the software and
tools -- having such volunteers would be of no help at all.

> I'm sure we can migrate it to a URL that makes it clear it is
> volunteer-driven.

There is also the question or whether the IETF tells people this
is an available option or whether it is a little secret among
the relevant volunteer and a few hundred or her closest friends.
If the former, the IETF and/or the IETF Administration LLC take
on some responsibility for keeping it available or providing
appropriate notice before it is shout down.

So, overall, I don't see that suggestion as helpful... much as I
would like to see this discussion end and stop consuming time
and bandwidth.

  john