Maturing [Re: Time required to write down "wisdom" ...]

[Charlie Perkins]

Hello Keith,

Let's take as an example the recent site-local discussion.

IPv6 has some chance today, because it was published
as a Proposed Standard quite a while ago.

Imagine the chance it would have, if the site-local discussion
would have prevented publication until, say, 2003.

Regards,
Charlie P.


Keith Moore wrote:

>>I guess it's obvious, but if we were late with all the
>>specifications, we would be also guaranteed to miss
>>all the windows.  Since the windows are unpredictable,
>>the temptation becomes irresistable to keep working
>>on the specification for longer, because, hey, the
>>window might still be open, and there might still
>>be a bug if we would just look harder...
>>    
>>
>
>actually the argument is often made that we have to complete the
>specification immediately, whether it's ready or not, because
>we'll miss the unpredictable 'window'. 
>
>I suspect it's also possible for specifications to be completed too soon
>- either before the real needs are understood or before the market is
>ready for them.  and nobody wants to dust off a 10-year old spec
>even if it is within epsilon of what is needed for the current problem.
>  
>