Errors-to: owner-drums@CS.UTK.EDU
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 13:40:41 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Jacob Palme <jpalme@dsv.su.se>
To: ietf-drums <drums@CS.UTK.EDU>
Subject: Can ambiguities ever be removed??
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950817133724.27998J-100000@ester>
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Harald T. Alvestrand writes:

> in any great detail; trying to outlaw existing practice on mailing lists is
> going to make us remember the "dot in unquoted name" discussion as a quiet,
> peaceful and productive time. (even though I *do* agree that some practices
> deserve outlawing, my personal hitlist doesn't belong here.

Mark Crispin writes:

> I may, however, protest to the IESG that this working group has exceeded
> its charter, which emphatically does *not* include any changes to the 
> status quo.

Should I concluce from this that all changes to existing practice
is forbidden, even in cases where existing practice is ambiguous,
muddled or different in different mail systems?

Does this means that on any case where a significant portion of
existing mail systems works one way, and a significant portion works
the other way, the new standard *must* specify that both alternatives
are equally correct?

This sounds to me as a sure way to produce bad standards documents!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacob Palme <jpalme@dsv.su.se> (Stockholm University and KTH)
for more info see URL: http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme