William Overington wrote:
> What please is the IETF?
Internet Engineering Task Force. As Rick pointed out, peruse:
http://www.ietf.org/
>
> Ken continues:
>
> But anyone who comes to the [EMAIL PROTECTED] list looking
> to actually develop and establish a standard protocol involving
> Unicode is looking in the wrong place.
>
> end quote
>
> Well, maybe. I notice that Ken writes using the email address
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] and that on the unicode website he is listed as a Technical
> Director of Unicode with the email address [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a mention
> of Sybase Inc. noted there.
>
> So, when Ken states the sentence above, is that Ken writing as a private
> individual expressing a purely personal opinion, or Ken writing as a
> representative of Sybase Inc. or Ken writing as a Technical Director of the
> Unicode Consortium stating official Unicode Consortium policy?
>
> I feel that that is an important issue that needs to be clarified.
I post personal opinions on this list.
When I am posting notes that represent an official Sybase position,
I post them on the relevant lists and sign myself as the Sybase
representative to the UTC and to L2.
When I respond in my capacity as one of the Technical Directors of
the Unicode Consortium (which is usually in direct email responses
to inquiries that come in via [EMAIL PROTECTED]), I sign my mail
appropriately.
Otherwise I'm not a big fan of officious-looking signatures on email,
and just sign myself "Ken".
> May I suggest that there exists scope for considerable confusion as to the
> provenance of a statement made on this list where members of the unicode
> user community may well not know who are the directors of the Unicode
> consortium.
Well, sure, but I think most participants on this list know how
it generally works -- as Rick pointed out. None of the Unicode officers
or UTC representatives come to this open discussion list trying to
push official positions on everyone. Official policies are the
provenance of the Unicode website, the Unicode Standard itself, and
the meetings of the Unicode Technical Committee.
> I am genuinely confused by this situation. Ken is a Technical Director of
> the Unicode Consortium and has the [EMAIL PROTECTED] email address. He
> writes using the email address [EMAIL PROTECTED] and does not state that he is
> a Technical Director of the Unicode Consortium in this posting. Ken makes
> statements about what is appropriate posting in this list. Knowing that Ken
> is a Technical Director of the Unicode Consortium makes me feel that I
> should treat what he says as if it is an official ruling of the Unicode
> Consortium that that is how this list is to be used. Yet is that a correct
> interpretation? Is Ken just happily and in a friendly manner only seeking
> to express a personal view?
The latter.
My posting on this topic was not an official statement from the Unicode
Consortium or any other organization I may represent. I was merely
trying to point out that as a matter of history and practice the
[EMAIL PROTECTED] discussion list does not develop protocols, and
since what you were presenting and the way you presented it seemed to
invite participation in the development of a protocol, I was pointing
you to the kind of forum where protocol development *is* in scope and
is the focus of various email discussion lists.
> If people cannot legitimately and welcomely
> discuss such issues here then surely all that will happen is that someone
> will start an alt. newsgroup and the discussions will take place there.
I'm not trying to chase you off the list.
Only Sarasvati could do that, and as Rick pointed out, that only happens
when people blatantly violate her rules for participation on the
list.
--Ken
