Errare humanum est: What do RFC Errata say about Internet Standards?

McQuistin, S. , Karan, M., Khare, P., Perkins, C. , Purver, M., Healey, P., Castro, I. and Tyson, G. (2023) Errare humanum est: What do RFC Errata say about Internet Standards? In: 7th Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference (TMA 2023), Napoli, Italy, 26-30 June 2023, ISBN 9783903176584 (doi: 10.23919/TMA58422.2023.10198980)

Abstract

Protocol standards, such as RFCs developed by the IETF, are crucial for the correct operation of the Internet, but many are published containing errors. The RFC Editor allows people to report errata, allowing anybody to flag such errors for subsequent correction. This represents an important part of the RFC publication process, and may reveal ways in which standards can be improved. This paper performs the first study of RFC errata reports. We characterize and perform a statistical analysis of the scale and nature of these errata and explore who submits them. Finally, we evaluate the impact, in terms of the number of errata filings, of three different strategies that are designed to improve the standards process. We find that specialist review teams and formal language checkers can reduce the volume of errata filed against standards documents.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Additional Information: This work is supported by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, under grants EP/S033564/1 and EP/S036075/1. Purver was also supported by the Slovenian Research Agency via research core funding for the programme Knowledge Technologies (P2-0103).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McQuistin, Dr Stephen and Perkins, Dr Colin
• Authors: McQuistin, S., Karan, M., Khare, P., Perkins, C., Purver, M., Healey, P., Castro, I., and Tyson, G.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• ISBN: 9783903176584
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 IFIP
• First Published: First published in 2023 7th Network Traffic Measurement and Analysis Conference (TMA)
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
304292		Streamlining Social Decision Making for Improved Internet Standards	Colin Perkins	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/S036075/1	Computing Science