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Re: "Stuckees?"
Steven Bellovin wrote:
> :-) But I think that too many other posters are lacking a sense of
> humor (or perhaps their bosses are....).
You are probably right. But remember that the job title discussion
applies only in the external world. Inside the IETF, we don't have to
be so humorless. In particular, we at the wgchairs list can use the
real job titles in the discussions. With that in mind, I have
slightly edited RFC 2418 Section 6 role definitions, so that
we can enjoy a more relaxed and accurate terminology:
6.1. PHB (Pointy Haired Boss)
The PHB is concerned with making forward progress through a
fair and open process, and has wide discretion in the
conduct of WG business. The PHB must ensure that a number
of tasks are performed, either directly or by others
assigned to the tasks. Unlike their corporate counterparts,
however, IETF PHBs do not actually have authority to
command specific persons to perform specific tasks.
6.2. Slave
Most IETF working groups focus their efforts on a document,
or set of documents. A working group generally designates a
person or persons to serve as the Slave or Slaves for a
particular document. The Slave is responsible for ensuring
that the contents of the document accurately reflect the
decisions that have been made by the working group. Until
very recently, Slaves also had to carry all the water to the
IETF hotel, dig holes in the ground using their bare hands,
and edit their documents using nroff.
6.3. Stuckee
In order to make progress, working groups need to establish
an understanding of technical alternatives, evaluate the
feasibility of the proposed solutions in a variety of
environments, and carefully review their documents.
Furthermore, consensus is more fun when there are more
participants than just the PHBs and the Slaves. Stuckees are
expected to participate in the discussions, perform timely
reviews of documents, and express their opinions when
decisions are being made.
Like others, Stuckees are volunteers. However, Stuckees do
not get their name in any of the publications.
6.4. Tourist
Most IETF working group meetings are held in big rooms.
Experience has shown that the number of Slaves and Stuckees
rarely exceeds ten for any working group. This would look bad
for any potential observers trying to gauge the interest
level of the new technology. In order to solve this problem,
working groups arrange for a number of designated Tourists to
participate the meetings. By definition, all other
participants other than the PHBs, Slaves, Stuckees, and Area
Dictators are Tourists. It is inappropriate for a Tourist to
participate in discussions, whether live or on the list.
Tourists are volunteers as well, but they get free Internet
access while in the room.
6.5. Area Dictator
Area Dictators are responsible for ensuring that working
groups in their area produce coherent, coordinated,
architecturally consistent and timely output as a
contribution to the overall results of the
IETF. Additionally, given that Slaves are often illiterate
and Stuckees lazy, the Area Dictators have formed the
Internet Engineers Spelling Group (IESG), which helps the
working groups to correct the grammar mistakes from their
documents.
;-)