Complex topics (RE: Formalizing Design Teams) (fwd)

Margaret Wasserman mrw at windriver.com
Sun Jan 5 18:32:49 CET 2003


Dave,

>My thought is that we would do better to focus on improving our efforts for
>tasks for which we have a demonstrated track record of effectiveness, namely
>near-term, immediate-utility,discrete functions..

And, what do you think we should do about the more complex issues
facing the Internet and our community?

I agree that we should keep doing the small things well.  But, I
don't believe that we can break every complex problem into a set of
small problems.  And, there are some complex problems, such as the
scalability and security of the Internet that I don't think we should
ignore.

Sometimes it makes sense for a group to work towards a common goal
with no assurance of success, if only because that group has a
possibility of success...

I'm not sure what the "mission" of the IETF is, exactly.  But, if
we had a mission, I think it would include continuing to enable
the growth of a healthy, secure, useful, globally-accessible
Internet.

Sometimes, in pursuit of that mission, we may anticipate problems
that don't actually arise.  Or, we may develop technologies in
advance of their need...  But, why is that so bad?

Margaret





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