Network Working Group L. Wood Internet-Draft Surrey alumni Intended status: Experimental November 19, 2016 Expires: May 23, 2017 Discussion beyond English on IETF mailing lists draft-wood-discussion-beyond-english-00 Abstract The IETF requires English for technical discussion in working groups, in working group documents and in anything considered for publication. Use of English simplifies overhead and makes for clear discussion of a single document in a single language, but disadvantages those who lack fluency and comfort in English. This document proposes setting up talk mailing lists for languages other than English, where technical matters can be discussed in comfort, and perhaps even be written up in internet-draft form in a language other than English. Once technical ideas are in place, a draft can move forward to a working group in English. Exposing non-English speakers to the IETF will, in the interests of diversity, allow them to gain familiarity with IETF processes while discussing with other fluent speakers of their language. This benefits the IETF by attracting a broader constituency while meeting its diversity goals. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress." This Internet-Draft will expire on May 23, 2017. Wood Expires May 23, 2017 [Page 1] Internet-Draft Discussion beyond English November 2016 Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. This document may not be modified, and derivative works of it may not be created, except to format it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other than English. Table of Contents 1. Introduction to Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. Details considered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. Introduction to Proposal We propose that the IETF set up a number of non-working-group mailing lists for discussion in different languages. These can be run as talk-[ISO639 language code]@ietf.org, e.g. talk-ja@ietf.org for Japanese, talk-zh@ietf.org for Chinese, etc [ISO639]. Experienced IETFers fluent in each language can volunteer and be assigned to guide each discussion, explaining IETF matters, and dealing with technical issues. They can guide ideas to draft form in the appropriate language, and eventually to the IETF's working language of English. A list in the language can be set it up if one or two IETFer guides are available and willing to follow discussion. 2. Details considered For simplicity and clarity, ISO-639-1:2002 two-letter coding takes precedence. More complex codings are unlikely to be required at this early stage. While working group discussion is in English and working group drafts are in English, and normally in ASCII, there is nothing requiring Wood Expires May 23, 2017 [Page 2] Internet-Draft Discussion beyond English November 2016 individual internet-drafts to be in English or in ASCII. Other forms of individual draft, e.g. portable document format (pdf), are suitable for non-Roman transcriptions. talk-en@ietf.org is arguably redundant, as the main IETF mailing list, ietf@ietf.org, has general English discussion. However, a place where English-speaking newcomers to the IETF feel more welcome before diving into technical workgroup discussion may be appropriate. Discussion in Asian language around e.g. local DNS use may be a useful starting point for this proposal. 3. Security Considerations Opening more mailing lists in more languages raises questions about keeping discussion appropriate to the IETF, rather than veering offtopic to e.g. local political issues, and questions of IETF limits of scope and liability must be answered. The mailing list rules of the IETF apply here. Translating those rules into the local language and periodically informing new subscribers of them and keeping discussion on-topic will be necessary. 4. IANA Considerations There are no IANA considerations. 5. Acknowledgements We thank the IETF mailing list for much discussion of diversity. 6. Normative References [ISO639] ISO, , "ISO 639-1:2002 Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 1: Alpha-2 code", International Standards Organization , 2002. Author's Address Lloyd Wood University of Surrey alumni Sydney, New South Wales Australia Email: L.Wood@society.surrey.ac.uk Wood Expires May 23, 2017 [Page 3]