[tao-discuss] Evolution of the Tao

[Jay Daley <[e-mail]>]

As I’ve explained in previous messages, I think it’s time for the Tao to evolve into a new set of documents that are written differently but cover much of the same subject matter.  The new documents I see possibly coming from the Tao are

- Introduction to the IETF
- How the IETF Works
- IETF Meetings
- Structure and Governance of the IETF

To help explain my thoughts I’ve put together the first of these "Introduction to the IETF" using the Tao as the source material as much as possible

	https://notes.ietf.org/Hp8iHjWxRc6eFqg--woGww?view

The key differences between the way this is written and the way the Tao is written are:

1.  I’ve tried to give full coverage to what matters without going into details on everything even if that means leaving some things unexplained or only vaguely touched on.  More detail can come in whichever of the three other documents is relevant.

2.  While this is targeted at newcomers and anyone else who wants to find out about the IETF I've barely mentioned newcomers at all.  For me the regular mention of newcomers in the Tao actually puts people off by labelling them and boxing them into a pre-defined role.  Better just to tell people the facts and let them decide how they fit in.

3.  Wherever possible I’ve tried to say "this is what X is" rather than the regular Tao approach of "you might think X is … but no it’s actually … !!".

4.  I’ve removed almost all of the side remarks, insights into culture, memes, etc while still trying to capture the intent where needed.  It’s not that they’re without value, it’s just that they have a time and a place where they are most effective and I think that is when someone is already somewhat familiar with the IETF and can use those to consolidate their mental model, but not for newcomers.

5.  This document has fewer external references.  There’s a balance between referencing sources and providing additional information, and distracting people from the current document.  The other three documents will need more references as they will go into more detail.

There’s no doubt the result of these changes is much drier than the Tao and therefore runs the risk of putting people to sleep before they finish it so I’m not averse to a bit more personality being added if that’s needed.

I am interested to hear what people think of this approach.

Jay

-- 
Jay Daley
IETF Executive Director
[e-mail]