Re: [tcpm] Comments on TCP-AO Draft

>-----Original Message-----
>From: tcpm-bounces@ietf.org [mailto:tcpm-bounces@ietf.org] On 
>Behalf Of LANGE Andrew
>Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 1:51 PM
>To: tcpm@ietf.org
>Subject: [tcpm] Comments on TCP-AO Draft
>
>

There are a lot of good comments here that will strengthen
the document.  One of them that concerns the wire-format rather
than text additions, clarifications, and changes that are
needed, which we should address quickly is:

>1.4.1: " IETF-72 topic" sections "No current consensus was 
>reached on this topic, so no change was made."  This is a real 
>problem -- the logic is deeply flawed.  Allow me to restate: 
>One author of this document has appointed themselves the 
>arbiter of consensus.  This author disagrees with other 
>people, and therefore no "consensus" can ever be reached, so 
>the default case this author has chosen is to keep things they 
>way they like it.
>
> ...
>
>"..omit an explicit algorithm ID..." -- I've said this before, 
>this is a BAD IDEA^tm. The protocol utility of doing this is 
>minimal (1-bit increase in search space), and the operational 
>complexity goes up.  Not to mention, it makes it operationally 
>incompatible with existing implementations.

There was logic given to support each side of the argument.  My
understanding of the summary for each position is:

(position 1 - "include") Including information like algorithm ID
and k-bit is BAD because it aids in debugging of implementations
and of configurations.

(position 2 - "don't include") Including this information is BAD
because it can expose information about the security parameters.
It doesn't aid in debugging of configuration because operators still
have to call each other in order to read off and verify keys.

There seemed to be more people around position 2 than position 1,
but we should flag this and ask during the meeting, as well as
open this up on the mailing list to see what people prefer.  We
need to pick one and move on.

As an individual, and not a co-chair, I'm in the position 2 "don't
include" camp.

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