RFC 1391 (rfc1391) - Page 2 of 19

The Tao of the IETF: A Guide for New Attendees of the Internet Engineering Task Force

RFC 1391                    The Tao of IETF                 January 1993


Table of Contents

   Section 1 - The "Fun" Stuff
      What is the IETF? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
      Humble Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
      The Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
      IETF Mailing Lists  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
      Registration  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
      Dress Code  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      Seeing Spots Before Your Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
      Terminal Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
      Social Event  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
      Agenda  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
      Other General Things  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8

   Section 2 - The "You've got to know it" Stuff
      Registration Bullets  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
      Mailing Lists and Archives  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
      Important Email Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
      IETF Proceedings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
      Be Prepared . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
      RFCs and Internet-Drafts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
      Frequently Asked Questions (and Their Answers)  . . . . . . . 13
      Pointers to Useful Documents and Files  . . . . . . . . . . . 14

   Section 3 - The "Reference" Stuff
      Tao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
      IETF Area Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
      Acronyms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
      References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
      Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
      Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19


What is the IETF?

   The IETF is the protocol engineering, development, and
   standardization arm of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).  Its
   mission includes:

   o  Identifying, and proposing solutions to, pressing operational and
      technical problems in the Internet;

   o  Specifying the development or usage of protocols and the near-term
      architecture to solve such technical problems for the Internet;

   o  Making recommendations to the IAB regarding standardization of
      protocols and protocol usage in the Internet;



Internet Engineering Task Force