RFC Frequently Asked Questions
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`The Basics
`
`The RFC Editor was once Jon Postel' who is it toda ?
`
`rou is that?
`Eve RFC was attributed to the "Network Workin Grou ". What workin
`
`Are all RFCs Internet standards documents?
`
`How can one tell where in the standards track an RFC is?
`
`How can I correct an error in a published RFC?
`May I reproduce or translate an RFC?
`
`Reading RFCs
`
`Can I be notified when a new RFC is published?
`I cannot retrieve the text of an RFC. Why not?
`When I retrieve an RFC. eveg line ends in "AM". What gives?
`Can I get a hard copy of the RFCs?
`Can I get a copy of the RFCs on CD-ROM?
`
`Writing RFCs
`
`How do I get an RFC published?
`Once my document has been sent to the IESG for review: or approved by the IESG for publication.
`how do I know the RFC Editor has it in their gueue?
`How long does it take for a document to become an RFC?
`What can I do to expedite the RFC publication process?
`I just realized my document has typos: or my address or affiliation has changed. what do I do?
`What style guide does the RFC Editor use?
`How should RFCs be listed in the references section?
`
`Will I have a chance to look over my document before it becomes an RFC?
`One of the authors is no longer available; how do we move forward?
`After an Intemet-Draft from a working group is approved for publication as an RFC, how are the
`WG chairs and Area Directors involved in the publication process?
`What if I want to include diagrams in an RFC that cannot be rendered in ASCII?
`How can I submit an April 1st RFC?
`
`995‘9’5’?‘
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`F999?“
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`y—ny—n
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`21.
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`22.
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`23.
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`The RFC Editor was once Jon Postel; who is it today?
`
`
`The RFC Editor is no longer a single person, it is a small group of people. The Internet
`Socieg, on behalf of the IETF, contracts the RFC Editor function to Association
`Management Solutions. LLC gAMS 1. Through 2009, the home of the RFC Editor
`EMC/VMware v. PersonalWeb
`
`http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcfaq.htrnl
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`IPR2013—00083
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`EMCVMW 1055
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`6/10/2013
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`RFC Frequently Asked Questions
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`function was the Networking Division of the USC Information Sciences Institute 11811
`in Marina del Rey, CA. ISI played a key role in the development of the Internet, and
`Jon Postel was the Director of ISI'S Networking Division for many years. For a
`historical account of the RFC series, see " 30 Years of RFCs" and "40 Years of RFCs".
`
`2. Every RFC was attributed to the "Network Working Group" (before the publication of RFC
`5741). What working group is that?
`
`This label in the heading of RFCs is historical in form and symbolic in content.
`Historically, "network working group" meant the set of researchers who developed the
`packet switching protocols for the ARPAnet, beginning in 1969. This label was
`maintained on RFCs as a reminder of the long and significant technical history that is
`recorded in the RFC series, and as a reminder that today's technical decisions, wise or
`not, may be with us for many years. Today, the "Network Working Group" should be
`interpreted as the set of users, vendors, and researchers who are working to improve
`and extend the Internet, in particular under the ISOC/IETF umbrella.
`
`3. Are all RFCs Internet standards documents?
`
`In a word, "NO!".
`
`Many RFCs have Informational or Experimental status and do not represent any kind
`of standard. They contain information that may be useful or important to retain in this
`archival document series.
`
`This is important to understand, because unscrupulous marketeers and a careless trade
`press sometimes falsely suggest that every RFC represents a standard, or that all
`standards have equal weight. The relationship among Internet technical specifications
`is often complex.
`
`4. How can one tell where in the standards track an RFC is?
`
`Consult the online document "Internet Official Protocol Standards". We periodically
`publish a snapshot of this information as an RFC whose number is divisible by 100;
`the latest such RFC is STD 1.
`
`These links are also on the RFC Database page.
`
`5. How can I correct an error in a published RFC?
`
`You cannot! Once an RFC is published, it cannot be changed. The RFCs form an
`archival series. If the bug represents a change of content, a revised RFC can be written
`that obsoletes the one in error.
`
`For both technical and editorial errors, the RFC Editor provides a list of errata for
`published RFCs. Use the RFC Errata page to look up errata by RFC number or view
`the complete list. Also, search results from the RFC search engine include hyperlinks
`to any corresponding errata entries. To report an error in an RFC, please use the form
`available fiom the RFC Errata page (see How to Report Errata for details).
`
`6. May I reproduce or translate an RFC?
`
`http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcfaq.htrnl
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`6/10/2013
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`RFC Frequently Asked Questions
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`All RFCs may be freely reproduced and translated (unmodified). Since the publication
`of RFC 5377 and RFC 537 8 in November 2008, the copyright notice and legends that
`appear on RFCs have been determined by the IETF Trust Le gal Provisions. See the
`IETF Trust Copyright FAQ for fiirther information.
`
`7. Can I be notified when a new RFC is published?
`
`Yes. An announcement of each new RFC is sent to all members of the rfc-dist mailing
`list. You can subscribe and unsubscribe fiom this list at:
`
`http://mailman.rfc—editor.org/mailman/listinfo/rfc—dist
`
`8.
`
`I cannot retrieve the text of an RFC. Why not?
`
`There is a short list of RFC numbers that were issued to documents that were never
`
`actually published. This explains the occasional gap between numbers. The current
`procedures are set up to try very hard to avoid this situation in the fiiture; in particular,
`RFC numbers are never reserved, rather they are assigned at the last moment in the
`editorial process.
`
`In addition, some RFCs prior to 800 existed only on paper. The RFC Editor has an
`"RFC Online" project to make the entire RFC series available online. However, this
`process has necessarily had lower priority than editing new RFCs. We are gratefiil for
`the help of volunteers in the Internet community who entered and nroffed text of the
`missing online RFCs.
`
`When I retrieve an RFC, every line ends in "AM". What gives?
`
`See "The End-of—Line Sto
`solutions.
`
`" for a historical account of the problem and possible
`
`10.
`
`Can I get a hard copy of the RFCs?
`
`The RFC Editor does not publish the repository in hard copy. There are several
`reasons for this. First, with over three thousand RFCs the size of a hard copy would
`fill several book cases. Second, given that most of the community obtains electronic
`versions of these documents, there is insufficient market to justify the printing costs.
`Finally, the RFC repository is constantly being extended. Any printed version would
`be quickly out of date.
`
`ll.
`
`Can I get a copy of the RFCs on CD-ROM?
`
`The RFC Editor does not publish CD-ROM copies of the RFC repository. As
`expressed above, these would become quickly out of date. For this reason, users are
`encouraged to consult the RFC Editor website for the most current version of any
`standard. In the past we have given permission for several commercial ventures to
`market RFC CDs, but we are not aware that any of these ventures still exist. Users
`may, of course, create their own CD-ROMs.
`
`12.
`
`How do I get an RFC published?
`
`http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcfaq.htrnl
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`RFC Frequently Asked Questions
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`See the RFC publication process.
`
`13. Once my document has been sent to the IESG for review, or approved by the IESG for
`publication, how do I know the RFC Editor has it in their queue?
`
`Please look at the RFC Editor Queue
`
`14. How long does it take for a document to become an RFC?
`
`Typical time to publish is 1-2 months, but the actual time varies greatly from one RFC
`to another. Publication may be held up for a variety of reasons, including IESG
`approval, inconsistencies or omissions that show up in editing, or normative references
`to other documents that must be published earlier or simultaneously. (For current
`information on documents linked by normative references, see the cluster page.)
`Authors should also be aware that the RFC Queue may be congested right before
`meetings of the IETF.
`
`15. What can I do to expedite the RFC publication process?
`
`Read all the instructions carefully. Make sure your document is formatted properly.
`See the RFC publication process and the RFC Sflle Guide.
`
`16.
`
`I just realized my document has typos, or my address or affiliation has changed, what do I
`do?
`
`If your document is in the RFC Editor Queue, please go ahead and send the changes to
`the RFC Editor at any time.
`
`17. What style guide does the RFC Editor use?
`
`See the RFC Sgle Guide. Also, we generally follow two sources for style advice:
`"The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White (4th Ed., 2000) and "A Pocket Style
`Manual" by Diana Hacker (4th Ed., 2004).
`
`18. How should references to RFCs be listed?
`
`A handy file of reference text for RFCs is available here: fm://f_tp.rfc-editor.org/in—
`notes/rfc-reftxt. We prefer representative reference tags (such as [RFC2119]) over
`numeric reference tags (such as [1]).
`
`19. Will I have a chance to look over my document before it becomes an RFC?
`
`Yes, during AUTH48 state. See Publication Process.
`
`20. One of the authors is no longer available; how do we move forward?
`
`We recommend one of the following paths forward:
`1. The author can be removed as an author and moved to the Acknowledgements
`section.
`2. The author can be removed as an author and moved to a Contributors section.
`
`3. An AD can approve the document in place of the unavailable author. (See the
`
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`RFC Frequently Asked Questions
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`IESG Statement on AUTH48 State.)
`Option 3 is typically used in instances where the missing author made significant
`contributions to the document, so the other authors are not feel comfortable removing
`the individual fiom the author list.
`
`21. After an Internet-Draft from a working group is approved for publication as an RFC, how
`are the WG chairs and Area Directors involved in the publication process?
`
`The WG chairs and Area Directors are CC'ed on every message sent from the RFC
`Editor to the authors during the course of the publication process, so they have the
`option of giving input at any time. Specifically, Area Director approval is requested
`when any changes that are beyond editorial are introduced into the document. A reply
`fiom WG chairs may be sought for issues that affect more than one document from
`their WG or for decisions about whether the WG needs to review changes. The
`Document Shepherd (when not one of the WG chairs) is also CC'ed on each message
`fiom the RFC Editor during the publication process. After the RFC is published, the
`authors as well as the WG chairs and Area Directors receive the notification message
`
`if errata are reported for that RFC.
`
`22. What if I want to include diagrams in an RFC that cannot be rendered in ASCII?
`
`After an RFC has been published, there is an option of posting a PDF with images; it
`contains the exact text of the RFC with diagrams added. This file is an option for
`authors and is produced by the authors.
`
`
`Examples of RFCs that have used this option are RFC 4128, RFC 4137, RFC 4601
`RFC 5059, RFC 5317, and RFC 5598. Note that each RFC has a PDF file available,
`which is a PDF file of the straight text. The optional PDF is listed as "PDF with
`images".
`
`23. How can I submit an April 1st RFC?
`
`April 1st submissions are the only RFCs-to-be that do not need to be published as
`Intemet-Drafts. These entries should be sent directly to the RFC Editor. We appreciate
`receiving all entries at least 2 weeks prior to April 1st so that the RFC Editor team has
`time to review all of the documents and prepare those that we decide to publish.
`
`This page was last updated on 21 November 2012.
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`http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcfaq.htrnl
`
`6/10/2013
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