Editing Internet Standard (section)

{{short description|Standard published by the Internet Engineering Task Force}}
{{primary sources|date=November 2015}}

In [[computer network]] [[engineering]], an '''Internet Standard''' is a normative [[specification]] of a technology or methodology applicable to the [[Internet]]. Internet Standards are created and published by the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF).  They allow interoperation of hardware and software from different sources which allows internets to function.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Leiba|first=Barry|date=January 2008|title=An Introduction to Internet Standards|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4428340|journal=IEEE Internet Computing|volume=12|issue=1|pages=71–74|doi=10.1109/MIC.2008.2|s2cid=26168365|issn=1089-7801|access-date=2022-02-04|archive-date=2022-02-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209162523/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4428340|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> As the Internet became global, Internet Standards became the lingua franca of worldwide communications.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cath|first1=Corinne|last2=Floridi|first2=Luciano|date=April 2017|title=The Design of the Internet's Architecture by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Human Rights|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11948-016-9793-y|journal=Science and Engineering Ethics|language=en|volume=23|issue=2|pages=449–468|doi=10.1007/s11948-016-9793-y|pmid=27255607|s2cid=3613408|issn=1353-3452}}</ref>

Engineering contributions to the IETF start as an [[Internet Draft]], may be promoted to a [[Request for Comments]], and may eventually become an Internet Standard.

An Internet Standard is characterized by technical maturity and usefulness. The IETF also defines a '''Proposed Standard''' as a less mature but stable and well-reviewed specification. A '''Draft Standard''' was an intermediate level, discontinued in 2011.<ref>{{cite ietf| title=Reducing the Standards Track to Two Maturity Levels| rfc=6410| author1=Russell Housley| author2=Dave Crocker| author3=Eric W. Burger| date=11 October 2011| publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]}}</ref> A Draft Standard was an intermediary step that occurred after a Proposed Standard but prior to an Internet Standard.

As put in RFC 2026: <blockquote>In general, an Internet Standard is a specification that is stable and well-understood, is technically competent, has multiple, independent, and interoperable implementations with substantial operational experience, enjoys significant public support, and is recognizably useful in some or all parts of the Internet.</blockquote>