Markdown Version | Session Recording

Session Date/Time: 27 Jul 2022 16:15

WG Chairs Forum (For WG Chairs Only)

Summary

This forum provided updates from the Ombuds Team, the Tools Team, and on working group chairs' training and support materials. Discussions covered the distinct responsibilities of chairs versus the Ombuds Team in managing disruptive behavior, significant enhancements to IETF tools, and the ongoing migration of IETF wiki content. The open mic session addressed challenges such as managing contentious working group topics, encouraging implementation reporting for drafts, and the complexities of facilitating remote participation in hybrid side meetings.

Key Discussion Points

• Ombuds Team Update

  • Role and Division of Labor: The Ombuds Team is available to advise chairs on handling difficult situations and to address issues of interpersonal harassment, disparaging comments, or off-list misconduct. Chairs were reminded that per RFC 2418 and BCP 25, they retain the ultimate responsibility and authority for managing on-list disruptions and maintaining order within their working groups. The Ombuds Team does not act as "behavior police" for public, on-list conduct.
  • Contact: Chairs can reach the Ombuds Team via ombuds-team@ietf.org or by contacting individual members directly.
  • Chair Training for Conflict Resolution: Michael Richardson suggested the need for more specific training for chairs on how to effectively address disruptive behavior, including practical tools, phrases, and techniques. He recommended training like "i hauler back" as an example. The Ombuds Team expressed willingness to help find resources for such training.
  • Shepherding and Authority: The practice of encouraging new participants to act as "shepherds" for documents is seen as a valuable way to introduce them to IETF processes. However, chairs were reminded that shepherds do not possess the same authority as chairs, and chairs must be prepared to intervene and support shepherds if disruptive behavior occurs.

• Tools Team Update (Robert Sparks)

  • Data Tracker and GitHub Transition: Significant changes have been made to the Data Tracker's look and feel. All source control and issue tracking have moved to the ietf-tools organization on GitHub. Chairs are encouraged to report specific tool issues on GitHub and use the tools-discuss mailing list for broader discussions.
  • Tools Group Meetings: The Tools Team now holds monthly, open interim meetings, which are recorded and have notes available on notes.ietf.org.
  • tools.ietf.org Transition: The full redirection of tools.ietf.org is anticipated the week following IETF 114. Users are requested to report any new issues arising from this transition to tools-discuss.
  • bibxml Service: The replacement bib.ietf.org service is addressing known issues, particularly concerning cram-down and oid references.
  • Urgent Support: For urgent, real-time issues (e.g., login problems during a meeting), support@ietf.org remains the primary contact channel.
  • Feature Requests:
    • Diff Report for Adopted IDs (Hank): Request for a Data Tracker feature to show the status changes (diff) of all adopted working group drafts between the last meeting and the current meeting, focusing on the end states.
    • Draft Diff Between Meetings (Dave Thaler): Request for an easier method to generate diffs for specific drafts between the version presented at a previous meeting and the current version, without requiring manual determination of historical version numbers. A date-based diff input was suggested as a possible implementation.

• Information Updates (Greg Wood - IETF LLC Staff)

  • WG Chairs Training: A second iteration of the WG Chairs training program is planned for October/November, incorporating feedback from the previous year. It will feature both live interactive sessions and on-demand modules. Suggestions for content are welcome.
  • chairs.ietf.org: This new wiki-style platform serves as a single, consolidated source of information for chairs, combining content from the old www.ietf.org and Chairs Wiki. Efforts are underway to ensure the content is regularly updated and remains relevant.
  • wiki.ietf.org (New IETF-wide Wiki): A "content sprint" was held to facilitate the migration of content from the older Track Wiki instances to the new wiki.ietf.org platform. This includes working group wikis, hackathon wikis, and meeting-specific wikis. The goal is to complete sufficient content migration to allow the shutdown of Track Wikis around or after the next IETF meeting. Chairs and Subject Matter Experts are crucial in identifying active content for migration.

• Open Mic

  • Managing Contentious Topics and Divergence (Jeff Tantsura, IDR WG): Raised concerns about working groups diverging on multiple solutions rather than achieving consensus, potentially leading to fragmented deployments. Proposed that chairs consider "forcing adoption" of a topic earlier in the process to encourage cooperation and prevent premature divergence, even if it might initially delay progress. Discouraging early allocation of code points for divergent paths was also mentioned.
  • Related Implementations in Data Tracker (Charles Eckel): Highlighted a new Data Tracker feature that allows linking related implementations (e.g., GitHub repositories) to drafts and RFCs. Chairs were encouraged to promote its use, noting that chairs are responsible for adding implementations for working group drafts, while authors can do so for individual drafts. Paul Vixie suggested enhancements such as id-nits warnings if implementations exist in the Data Tracker but not the draft's implementation section, or automatic generation of the implementation section.
  • Guidance for Hybrid BOF/Working Group Forming Meetings (Spencer Dawkins): Requested additional guidance for effectively running BOF and working group forming meetings in a hybrid environment, particularly concerning how to conduct polls or gauge consensus among both in-person and remote participants.
  • Helping Newcomers and Expanding IETF Scope (Wes Hardaker): Emphasized the importance for chairs to actively help newcomers integrate into the IETF and to be open to incorporating new topics and areas of work, even if they extend beyond traditional IETF scope.
  • Remote-Friendly Side Meetings (Mohammed Boucadair / Dhruv): Discussed the difficulties in making side meetings remote-friendly due to a lack of formal IETF support for audio and remote participation tools. The ISG's position is to keep side meetings separate from official IETF meetings to avoid incurring additional procedural overhead. The concept of a "light Meetecho" solution, visually distinct but providing basic remote participation capabilities, was mentioned as being under consideration by the secretariat. Attendees were urged to articulate specific pain points and precise asks for such support.

Decisions and Action Items

Decisions:

• A second version of the WG Chairs Training will be delivered in October/November.
• The tools.ietf.org domain is expected to be fully redirected the week after IETF 114.
• The older track wikis are planned for shutdown around or after the next IETF meeting, with active content migrated to wiki.ietf.org.

Action Items:

• All Chairs: Scan the QR code for attendance and future lunch planning.
• Michael Richardson: Send specific suggestions for chair training content on conflict resolution (e.g., practical tools, phrases) to the emodur mailing list or Greg Wood.
• Robert Sparks (Tools Team): Investigate implementing diff reports for adopted IDs and draft versions between meetings, potentially with a date-based input.
• Lou Berger: Share the link to the wg_stats tool on the appropriate mailing list.
• Greg Wood (IETF LLC Staff):
  • Incorporate content suggestions into the upcoming WG Chairs Training.
  • Continue working with chairs and subject matter experts to identify and migrate active content to wiki.ietf.org.
• Chairs: Encourage working group participants to use the "Related Implementations" feature in the Data Tracker for their drafts, and assist with adding these for working group drafts.
• Paul Vixie: Engage with the Tools Team regarding id-nits warnings or auto-generation for implementation sections in drafts based on Data Tracker data.
• ISG/Secretariat: Continue to investigate solutions (e.g., a "light Meetecho" instance) for basic remote participation support in side meetings, informed by specific pain points articulated by chairs.

Next Steps

• IETF LLC staff will proceed with planning and delivery of the WG Chairs Training v2 in Oct/Nov.
• The Tools Team will continue with the tools.ietf.org redirection and consider implementing requested diff features.
• Migration of content from Track Wikis to wiki.ietf.org will continue, with active engagement from chairs on content identification.
• Further discussions are expected on best practices for handling contentious topics within working groups and potential solutions for formalizing basic remote participation support in side meetings.