The RFC series

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The RFC series

• The collective wisdom and insights of the early
  Internet pioneers and those who came later has
  been preserved within the set of documents
  collectively known as the Request for Comment
  series, or, RFCs.

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RFCs

• They can be perused in (nearly) their entirety,
  from the first to the last. The evolution of most
  Internet-related protocols can be found there.
  Now numbering over 3,000 documents, each can be
  readily identified to indicate whether it
  represents a proposal, a draft, a standard, or a
  historic contribution.

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The First RFC

• was written by Steve Crocker, addressing the
  issue of Host Software. It was issued on April
  7, 1969. That it was circulated as a request
  for comment, rather than as an attempt to impose
  a particular view without further discussion, set
  the tone for all that followed. The second RFC
  followed two days later, in response to the
  first, and the dialogue was off and running.

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RFC origins

• Many of us worked very hard in the early
  days to establish the RFCs as the official set of
  technical notes for the development of the
  Internet. This was not an easy job. There were
  suggestions for many parallel efforts and
  splinter groups. There were naysayers all along
  the way because this was a new way of doing
  things, and the ARPANET was coloring outside the
  lines so to speak.

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Origins

• Jon (Postel), as Editor-in-Chief, was criticized
  because the RFCs were not issued by an official
  standards body, and the NIC was criticized
  because it was not an official document issuing
  agency. We both strived to marry the new way of
  doing business with the old, and fortunately were
  usually supported by our government sponsors, who
  themselves were breaking new ground.1 1
  Jake Feinler, p. 12, RFC 2555 30 Years of RFCs.

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Jon Postel

• served as the editor of the RFC series for most
  of its existence. A nice tribute page can be
  found at
• www.postel.org/remembrances
• and RFC 2468 (who do we appreciate?).

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Postel

• Jon was the networks Boswell, but it was his
  devotion to quality and his remarkable mix of
  technical and editing skills that permeate many
  of the more monumental RFCs that dealt with what
  we now consider the TCP/IP standards.

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The role of the editor

• Many bad design decisions were re-worked thanks
  to Jons stubborn determination that we all get
  it rightas the editor, he simply would not let
  something go out that didnt meet his personal
  quality filter. There were times when we moaned
  and complained, hollered and harangued, but in
  the end, most of the time, Jon was right and we
  knew it.1
• 1 Vint Cerf, p. 6, RFC 2555 30 Years of
  RFCs.

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RFC content

• While the series does present much technical
  information on many specialized topicsranging
  from the latest networking protocols to
  maintaining the security of network trafficit is
  also at times quite whimsical and accessible to a
  casually interested reader.
•  

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Content

• For example, RFC 1118 is entitled The
  Hitchhikers Guide to the Internet.1 It was
  issued in 1989 (and is now a bit outdated) as a
  guide to a neophyte user of the Internet, and
  explains many of the basic terms and concepts.
• 1 A reference to the popular Douglas Adams
  book The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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and comedy

• RFC 1925, The Twelve Networking Truths, puts
  forth such important observations as in fact,
  with sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine! And
  RFC 2324 presents the Hyper Text Coffee Pot
  Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0).

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The RFC archive

• The RFC Editor site at www.rfc-editor.org
  provides extensive information about the RFC
  series. It includes a searchable archive of RFCs,
  a set of Frequently Asked Questions, and
  instructions on the process for preparation and
  publication of an RFC document.