Documentation Conventions
The early rules for writing Network Working Group notes: short, informal, open to anyone, and mailed to a fixed list.
Crocker, S.D., "Documentation Conventions", RFC 27, DOI 10.17487/RFC0027, December 1969, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc27>.
@misc{rfc27,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 27,
howpublished = {RFC 27},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0027},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc27},
author = {S.D. Crocker},
title = {{Documentation Conventions}},
pagetotal = 3,
year = 1969,
month = dec,
} RFC text
Network Working Group S. Crocker
Request for Comments: 27 UCLA
9 December 69
DOCUMENTATION CONVENTIONS
This note is a revision of NWG/RFC 10, 16, and 24.
The Network Working Group consists of interested people from existing
or potential ARPA network sites. Membership is not closed.
The Network Working Group (NWG) is concerned with the HOST software,
the strategies for using the network, and initial experience with the
network.
Documentation of the NWG's effort is through notes such as this. Notes
may be produced at any site by anybody and included in this series.
CONTENT
The content of a NWG note may be any thought, suggestion, etc. related
to the HOST software or other aspect of the network. Notes are
encouraged to be timely rather than polished. Philosophical positions
without examples or other specifics, specific suggestions or
implementation techniques without introductory or background
explication, and explicit questions without any attempted answers are
all acceptable. The minimum length for a NWG note is one sentence.
These standards (or lack of them) are stated explicitly for two
reasons. First, there is a tendency to view a written statement as
ipso facto authoritative, and we hope to promote the exchange and
discussion of considerably less than authoritative ideas. Second,
there is a natural hesitancy to publish something unpolished, and we
hope to ease this inhibition.
FORM
Every NWG note should bear the following information:
1. "Network Working Group"
"Request for Comments: X" (X underscored)
where X is a serial number. Serial numbers are assigned
by Steve Crocker at UCLA.
2. Author and affiliation
3. Date
4. Title
The title need not be unique.
DISTRIBUTION
One copy only will be sent from the author's site to:
1. Abhai Bhushan, MIT
2. Steve Carr, Utah
3. Gerry Cole, SDS
4. Steve Crocker, UCLA
5. Bill English, SRI
6. Kim Fry, MITRE
7. John Haefner, RAND
8. Bob Kahn, BB&N
9. Thomas O'Sullivan, Raytheon
10. Larry Roberts, ARPA
11. Paul Rovner, LL
12. Ron Stoughton, UCSB
Reproduction, if desired, may be handled locally.
ADDRESSES
Below are the most current addressed I have. Please correct as
necessary:
Abhai Bhushan MIT
Room 807 - Project MAC (617) 864-6900 X5857
545 Technology Square
Cambridge, Mass. 02139
Steve Carr Utah
Computer Science Dept. (801) 322-8224
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
Gerry Cole SDC
7842 Croyden 2500 Colorado
Los Angeles, Calif. 90024 Santa Monica, Calif 90406
(213) 393-9411, X6l35
X6019 (Sec'y)
Steve Crocker UCLA
3732 Boelter Hall (213) 825-4864
UCLA 825-2543 (Sec'y)
Los Angeles, Calif. 90024
Bill English SRI
Stanford Research Institute (415) 326-6200
333 Ravenswood
Menlo Park, Calif. 94025
Kim Fry MITRE
The MITRE Corp (703) 893-3500, X355
Westgate Research Park X318
McLean, Va. 22101
John Heafner RAND
The Rand Corporation (213) 393-0411
1700 Main Street
Santa Monica, Calif. 90406
Robert Kahn BB&N
Bolt, Beranek and Newman (617) 491-1850
50 Moulton St.
Cambridge, Mass. 02138
Thomas O'Sullivan Raytheon
Raytheon Company (617) 899-8400
Equipment Division Headquarters
40 Second Ave.
Waltham, Mass. 02l54
Larry Roberts ARPA
ODS/ARPA (202) OX7-8663
3D167 OX7-8654
Washington, D.C. 2030l
Paul D. Rovner LL
Mass. Inst. of Tech. (617) 562-5500 X7211
Lincoln Laboratory B-115
P.O. Box 73
Lexington, Mass 02173
Ron Stoughton UCSB
Computer Research Lab (805) 961-3221
UCSB
Santa Barbara, Calif. 93106
ISO Plain Language
On this page
§1The Group and Its Notes
This note revises RFC 10, RFC 16 and RFC 24. The Network Working Group (NWG) consists of interested people from existing or potential ARPA network sites, and membership is not closed. It is concerned with the HOST software, the strategies for using the network, and early experience with the network.
The group documents its work through notes such as this one. A note may be produced at any site by anybody and included in the series.
The group is an open club of people who build software for the network. It writes short notes to share its work, and anyone at any site may write one.
§2What a Note May Contain
A note may hold any thought or suggestion related to the HOST software or another aspect of the network. Notes are encouraged to be timely rather than polished. Philosophical positions without examples, specific suggestions without background, and questions without attempted answers are all acceptable, and the minimum length for a note is one sentence.
The RFC states these loose standards for two reasons. First, a written statement tends to be seen as authoritative, and the group wants to encourage discussion of far less authoritative ideas. Second, people naturally hesitate to publish something unpolished, and the group wants to ease that hesitation.
A note may be any idea about the network, however unfinished. Even a single sentence counts, so no one should feel that their idea is too rough to share.
§3The Required Form
Every note should carry four items. The first is the words Network Working Group and Request for Comments: X, where X is a serial number assigned by Steve Crocker at UCLA. The others are the author and affiliation, the date, and a title. The title need not be unique.
Each note needs four things: a serial number, who wrote it and where they work, the date, and a name. The name does not have to be the only one of its kind.
§4Distribution
The author's site sends one copy to each of 12 named people, at MIT, Utah, SDC, UCLA, SRI, MITRE, RAND, BB&N, Raytheon, ARPA, Lincoln Laboratory and UCSB. Further reproduction may be handled locally. The note also lists the current addresses and phone numbers for each person and asks recipients to correct them where necessary.
The writer mails one copy to each of twelve people. Each of them can make more copies locally if needed. The note also lists everyone's address so it can be corrected.