Re: Software for PKI

[pgut001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Peter Gutmann)]

"Ryan Hurst" <ryanh@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

>I would certainly advocate that we add a requirement that there is use case
>documentation included with all of these technology drafts.

What about requiring that drafts include a rationale, as the IEEE has always
done?  This is slightly different to what you're proposing, but would help in
two ways:

1. Authors would be forced to explain what they're doing, which would help
   clarify the thinking behind some of the stuff in PKIX drafs (and reduce the
   "WTF??!" factor experienced in reading some of them).

2. Readers wouldn't have to rely on guesswork so much, enhancing
   interoperability.

(It should be noted that no-one's actually prevented from including a
 rationale, it's just not usually done.  I've included a rationale for each
 decision in my drafts, which hopefully helps clarify things not explicitly
 mentioned in all the MUST/SHOULD/whatever text).

Peter.