Re: Thoughts on NetConf Requirements

[Juergen Schoenwaelder <schoenw@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de>]

>>>>> Andy Bierman writes:

Wes>  [aside: I agree with Juergen that "filter" would be a better word
Wes> than "element-subtree"].

Andy> This is more than an aside terminology issue.  Filtering implies
Andy> almost boundless complexity for all kinds of conditions and
Andy> combinations.  

I respectfully disagree with this statement. You seem to have the
wisdom that anything other than subtree filtering (which is one of the
many forms of filtering) has "almost boundless complexity" and I am
more than confused by that statement. (Are we back in SNMP engineering
where we often made things too simplistic and finally drove the car,
which became quite complex over the years even to do even simple
things, against the wall?)

I just suggested to use the generic term filter since it allows to
make an educated decision given the requirements and constraints what
the best trade off actually is, rather than predefining the solution
already now.

Andy> For example, filters such as "user joe is allowed to set
Andy> parameter X on interface 37 to the value 7 between the hours of
Andy> 3 and 5 am on every other friday" would be very complex to
Andy> describe and implement in a standard way.

Presenting an arbitrary complex example in order to rule out a
discussion about this issue does not convince me to be good
engineering practice.

Andy> Agreeing on a useful filter subset and standardizing it is a
Andy> huge effort which should not be allowed to slow down the initial
Andy> netconf work.

I am concerned about this approach to push through already taken
design decisions. I believe WGs need to discuss design decisions and
it is IMHO the job of the chairs to ensure that such discussions get
the room they need and are not misused as a tool to artificially slow
down the WG. However, killing discussions right away with the "slow
down hammer" before a discussion actually started just does not seem
right to me.

/js

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