Re: [netmod] type equivalence

["Rob Wilton (rwilton)" <[e-mail]>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Juergen Schoenwaelder <[e-mail]>
> Sent: 26 February 2021 17:55
> To: Rob Wilton (rwilton) <[e-mail]>
> Cc: [e-mail]
> Subject: Re: [netmod] type equivalence
> 
> On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 03:27:39PM +0000, Rob Wilton (rwilton) wrote:
> >
> > Sure, but if we are going to submit an errata for this definition, we
> want to ensure that updated definition is clear in all axes, not only the
> specific issue that was originally raised.
> >
> 
> This is where the IETF shines, there is an attempt to fix a minor
> problem and the result is N additional possible problems are put on
> the table to be considered as well before the minor problem can be
> fixed. My interest was the original question since I did run into it,
> my interest is low in fixing all other possible problems that people
> can think of.
[RW] 

I'm not convinced that accurately describes the situation.  

If it helps to clarify, I have three specific goals here:

(1) Check that the proposed corrected text doesn't contain further bugs that also need to be fixed.  After all you cannot file an errata on an errata, and it doesn't look great for me if I have to request that a verified errata is changed to rejected because it contains further issues in a two sentence paragraph.

(2) Workout whether the errata can be marked as verified, hold for update, or needs to be rejected.

(3) Check that the same bug doesn't exist in other places.  I agree that this is a tangential goal, and I have already forked this into a separate thread, as you had requested.

I am not asking you to generically fix or define "semantics", but I really would like our proposed replacement text to be entirely unambiguous, and contain no further issues.

E.g., I'm wondering, would your proposed new definition allow us to change from the IETF to IEEE MAC address definition?  The underlying type is the same (String), and arguably the semantics of both types is the same (i.e., they both represent an IEEE 802 MAC address), but the syntax of the two types clearly differs.

Regards,
Rob