Re: [Last-Call] Last Call: BCP 83 PR-Action Against Dan Harkins

[Stuart Cheshire <[e-mail]>]

On 29 Sep 2022, at 09:15, IETF Chair <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Following community feedback after various incidents, as documented below, the IESG has initiated a posting rights (PR) action that would restrict the posting rights of Dan Harkins, as per the procedures found in BCP 83 (RFC 3683).

I support this action, and I thank the IESG for their service to the community in making this difficult decision. I’m sure this is an action no one ever wanted to have to take.

The composition of our workforce in the computer industry has changed for the better in recent years, and that change continues. The IETF needs to provide a respectful, welcoming environment to that more diverse workforce, otherwise the IETF risks driving away smart hardworking young people, and fading into irrelevance. For some people used to the IETF meetings of the 1980s and 1990s this new crowd probably looks quite different. Change can be unsettling for some. For the good of the IETF and the Internet, we need to move with the times and embrace this new workforce, not be stuck in the past pining for how things used to be. Young adults today care about things that weren’t an issue when some of us were growing up, like pronouns. Whether I care about this myself doesn’t matter. I can see that for some people it is very important, and it doesn’t hurt me to try to respect people’s wishes about how they’d like to be addressed in my written and spoken communications. If that’s the worst hardship I face in my life this year, I’m doing okay.

Stuart Cheshire