Re: what's a standards track control?

[Mark Wahl <Mark.Wahl@Sun.COM>]

Bruce Greenblatt wrote:
> 
> What does it mean for an RFC that defines an LDAP control to be Standards
> Track?  Since it clearly isn't a requirement that all LDAP Servers to
> implement the control, I wonder what the difference is between a "Standards
> Track" control and an "Informational Track" control.  

RFC 2026 defines the difference between standards track and informational and
experimental.

Consider the Host Requirements RFC.  It is not a requirement that EVERY 
Internet host implement SMTP to be part of the Internet.  However SMTP is 
a Standard-track specification. Similarly, there are extensions to SMTP which
are not required to be implemented by EVERY MTA, but they are still standards
track.

> If there is no difference, shouldn't all controls be Informational Track (or
> maybe Standards Track)?  Or maybe, all Standards Track controls should be
> mandatory to implement, once the RFC reaches a Standard status.  Any thoughts?

Extensions are optional to implement by client or server, except when referenced
by an Applicability Statement or the core protocol definition.  This does not
keep them from being standards-track.

Mark Wahl
Sun Microsystems Inc.