Re: [Tools-discuss] Clarifying the state of and the transition plan for tools.ietf.org

[Eliot Lear <[e-mail]>]

Nicely put.

> On 9 Mar 2021, at 19:16, Robert Sparks <[e-mail]> wrote:
> 
> The services at tools.ietf.org are undergoing a transition.
> 
> As most of you know Henrik Levkowetz has retired. He is continuing to support
> the services that he has provided for decades at tools.ietf.org on a best
> effort basis as we transition the essential features to LLC supported
> platforms. The plan is to finish the transition before IETF 111 and wind
> tools.ietf.org down.
> 
> The process of moving these features has been ongoing for several years.
> Most have already been moved, but a few important ones remain.
> 
> We have recently moved the tools.ietf.org style of presenting htmlized text
> documents into the Datatracker. The plan is to redirect those pages from
> tools.ietf.org into the Datatracker soon.
> 
> We will be replacing the online xml2rfc and bibxml services with modern
> rewrites of the existing services.
> 
> We are transitioning the svn/trac source repositories for the Datatracker
> and xml2rfc to the IETF Secretariat, with a longer term goal of moving them
> to GitHub.
> 
> At the beginning of this meeting, we identified that the ability to add to
> individual sessions (as opposed to all sessions of a group) to a subscribable
> calendar needs to be added to the Datatracker.
> 
> We will look again to identify any other features that need to be moved. But as
> you notice features at tools.ietf.org that are important but can't find at the
> Datatracker, please send a note either to me or to [e-mail].
> 
> Henrik and I communicate frequently, and he is supporting us with this
> transition on a best effort basis, but tools.ietf.org is not getting as much of
> his time as we have become accustomed to in the past. Please be patient with us
> during the next few months.
> 
> As you identify issues with tools.ietf.org, please email Henrik or let me know,
> and I will bring them to Henrik's attention.  In general, neither the IETF
> Secretariat nor the tools team can address issues at tools.ietf.org directly.
> Our focus will be on moving functionality to platforms like the Datatracker.
> 
> I would like to express my gratitude for all of the support Henrik has provided
> to the community over the last couple of decades. Early on, long before we
> started projects like the Datatracker, he set up several tools on his own that
> became very popular with the community. During this time, the domain tools.ietf.org
> was delegated to him, and he used it to gather the volunteer created tooling from
> many contributors.
> 
> As the community grew, we began hosting more services at the IETF Secretariat.
> During Russ Housley's tenure as IETF Chair, the tools team, under the IOAC's
> direction, began moving essential services to IETF Secretariat-supported
> platforms. Through donated and contracted time, Henrik has been helping make
> these transitions as an ongoing process. But tools.ietf.org continued to be a
> set of services that he maintained and improved primarily by himself or through
> coordinating other volunteer effort.
> 
> Of course, Henrik was also a principal architect and contributor for the
> Datatracker and xml2rfc, and we are richer for all of his hard work over
> decades on so many tools.
> 
> --
> 
> Robert Sparks
> 
> Tools Team chair
>