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Network Working Group RFC Editor Request for Comments: 5540 USC/ISI Category: Informational 7 April 2009

                          40 Years of RFCs

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 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

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Abstract

 This RFC marks the 40th anniversary of the RFC document series.

1. RFCs and Jon Postel

 Forty years ago today, the first Request for Comments document, RFC
 1, was published at UCLA [RFC1].  This was the first of a series that
 currently contains more than 5400 documents (roughly 160,000 pages)
 on computer networking in general and on the Internet protocols in
 particular.  The RFC series emerged from the US government-funded
 research efforts that created the ARPANET and later the Internet.
 When the IETF was formed in the mid-1980s, RFCs became the primary
 publication vehicle for IETF standards, and thus became centered on
 the vendor and user communities.

 For the first 29 years, Jon Postel [Postel] was *the* RFC Editor,
 until his untimely death in October 1998.  Postel, with substantial
 help from Joyce K. Reynolds, was responsible for the collection,
 editing, online publication, and archiving of the RFC documents.
 From 1978 until 1998, Postel was a research scientist at the USC
 Information Sciences Institute (USC/ISI) in Marina del Rey,
 California.  Postel was also the original IANA as well as Director of
 the Computer Networks Division at ISI.

RFC Editor Informational [Page 1]  RFC 5540 40th Anniversary 7 April 2009

 Upon the occasion of the 30th anniversary of RFC 1 and as a tribute
 to the massive contribution of Jon Postel, the RFC Editor published
 RFC 2555 [RFC2555] on April 7, 1999.  This RFC contained
 recollections from three networking pioneers: Steve Crocker who wrote
 RFC 1, Vint Cerf whose long-range vision continues to guide us, and
 Jake Feinler who played a key role in the middle years of the RFC
 series.

 Ten more years have now passed, and we have reached the 40th
 anniversary of the RFC series.  The series has more than doubled in
 size during the last ten years, and it is expected to continue far
 into the future.  All the good things said in RFC 2555 still hold
 true ten years later.

 We should, however, note some changes that have occurred over the
 past ten years.

 o  After Jon passed away, Joyce Reynolds and Bob Braden put together
    a small organization at USC/ISI to continue the RFC Editor
    function.  This was motivated by a desire to honor Postel by
    continuing his remarkable effort and to provide a service to the
    Internet community.

 o  Funding of the RFC Editor, which had been supported by the US
    government until 1998, was taken over by the Internet Society.
    During 1998-2006, ISOC funded the RFC Editor under a series of
    annual contracts and extensions.  ISOC put the function out for
    competitive bid for 2007 (USC/ISI was selected to provide RFC
    Editor services from 2007-2009), and the contract will be put out
    to bid again for post-2009.

    During 2009 there will be a significant transition for the RFC
    Editor function, as some new organization or set of organizations
    takes over this service that has been performed at USC/ISI
    continuously since 1978.

 o  Many improvements have increased the efficiency and transparency
    of the RFC editorial process [RFCed09].

 o  The RFC Editor formed an RFC Editorial Board, a group of people
    with broad and deep knowledge of the Internet and networking.  One
    of its major functions is to assist the RFC Editor by reviewing
    RFCs in the Independent Submission stream.

 o  An email list, rfc-interest@rfc-editor.org, was created to obtain
    community input on the RFC Editor functions.

RFC Editor Informational [Page 2]  RFC 5540 40th Anniversary 7 April 2009

2. Security Considerations

 This document does not raise any security issues.

3. Acknowledgments

 It has been an honor for USC/ISI to serve the community during the
 past 31 years.

4. Informative References

 [Postel]  "Remembering Jonathan B. Postel",
           <http://www.postel.org/remembrances/>.

 [RFCed09] Braden, R., Ginoza, S., and A. Hagens, "The RFC Editor
           Function at ISI", <http://www.rfc-editor.org/
           RFCeditor.at.ISI.pdf>, January 2009.

 [RFC1]    Crocker, S., "Host Software", RFC 1, April 1969.

 [RFC2555] RFC Editor, et al., "30 Years of RFCs", RFC 2555, April
           1999.

Author's Address

 RFC Editor

 EMail: rfc-editor@rfc-editor.org

RFC Editor Informational [Page 3]