Editing Request for Comments (section)

==History==
The inception of the RFC format occurred in 1969 as part of the seminal [[ARPANET]] project.<ref name=nytimes/> Today, it is the official publication channel for the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF), the [[Internet Architecture Board]] (IAB), and{{snd}} to some extent{{snd}} the global community of computer network researchers in general.

The authors of the first RFCs [[typewrote]] their work and circulated [[Hard copy|hard copies]] among the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency|ARPA]] researchers. Unlike the modern RFCs, many of the early RFCs were actual Requests for Comments and were titled as such to avoid sounding too declarative and to encourage discussion.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hafner | first=Katie | last2=Lyon | first2=Matthew | title=Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet | publisher=Simon & Schuster | series=A Touchstone book | year=1996 | isbn=978-0-684-81201-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Meet the man who invented the instructions for the Internet |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/05/steve-crocker/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=December 18, 2018|date=May 18, 2012 |last1=Metz |first1=Cade }}</ref> The RFC leaves questions open and is written in a less formal style. This less formal style is now typical of [[Internet Draft]] documents, the precursor step before being approved as an RFC.

In December 1969, researchers began distributing new RFCs via the newly operational ARPANET. {{IETF RFC|1|link=no}}, titled "Host Software", was written by [[Steve Crocker]] of the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA), and published on April 7, 1969.{{Ref RFC|1}} Although written by Steve Crocker, the RFC had emerged from an early [[working group]] discussion between Steve Crocker, Steve Carr, and [[Jeff Rulifson]].

In {{Anchor|RFC 3}}{{IETF RFC|3|link=no}}, which first defined the RFC series, Crocker started attributing the RFC series to the Network Working Group. Rather than being a formal committee, it was a loose association of researchers interested in the ARPANET project. In effect, it included anyone who wanted to join the meetings and discussions about the project.

Many of the subsequent RFCs of the 1970s also came from UCLA, because UCLA is one of the first of what were [[Interface Message Processor]]s (IMPs) on ARPANET. The [[Augmentation Research Center]] (ARC) at [[Stanford Research Institute]], directed by [[Douglas Engelbart]], is another of the four first of what were ARPANET [[Node (networking)|nodes]] and the source of early RFCs. The ARC became the first network information center ([[InterNIC]]), which was managed by [[Elizabeth J. Feinler]] to distribute the RFCs along with other network information.<ref>{{cite journal |title= The Network Information Center and its Archives |doi-access=free|s2cid-access=free  |journal= Annals of the History of Computing |author= Elizabeth J. Feinler |date= July–September 2010 |volume= 32 |issue=3 |pages= 83–89 |doi= 10.1109/MAHC.2010.54 |s2cid= 206443021 |author-link= Elizabeth J. Feinler }}</ref>

On [[April Fools' Day]] 1978, {{IETF RFC|748|link=no}} was published as a parody of the [[Internet protocol suite|TCP/IP]] documentation style. This resumed in 1989 with the publication of {{IETF RFC|1097|link=no}}, which describes an option for [[telnet]] clients to display [[subliminal messages]]. Subsequent [[April Fools' Day Request for Comments|April Fools' Day RFCs]] have been published annually since then, notably {{IETF RFC|2324|link=no}} which describes the [[Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol]] and defines the HTTP 418 "I'm a teapot" status. Humorous RFCs date back to {{IETF RFC|439|link=no}}, published in January 1973.

===RFC Editor function===
From 1969 until 1998, [[Jon Postel]] served as the RFC [[editor]]. On his death in 1998, his obituary was published as {{IETF RFC|2468|link=no}}.{{Ref RFC|2468}}

Following the expiration of the original ARPANET contract with the U.S. federal government, the Internet Society, acting on behalf of the IETF, contracted with the Networking Division of the [[University of Southern California]] (USC) [[Information Sciences Institute]] (ISI) to assume the editorship and publishing responsibilities under the direction of the IAB. 
Sandy Ginoza joined USC/ISI in 1999 to work on RFC editing, and Alice Hagens in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |title= RFC Editor in Transition: Past, Present, and Future |author= Leslie Daigle |publisher= Cisco Systems |date= March 2010 |work= The Internet Protocol Journal |volume= 13 |number=1 |url= http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/archived_issues/ipj_13-1/131_rfc.html |access-date= August 17, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920055557/http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/archived_issues/ipj_13-1/131_rfc.html |archive-date= Sep 20, 2010 }}</ref> [[Bob Braden]] took over the role of RFC project lead, while [[Joyce K. Reynolds]] continued to be part of the team until October 13, 2006.

In July 2007, ''streams'' of RFCs were defined, so that the editing duties could be divided. IETF documents came from IETF working groups or submissions sponsored by an IETF area director from the [[Internet Engineering Steering Group]]. The IAB can publish its own documents. A research stream of documents comes from the [[Internet Research Task Force]] (IRTF), and an independent stream from other outside sources.{{Ref RFC|4844}} A new model was proposed in 2008, refined, and published in August 2009, splitting the task into several roles,{{Ref RFC|5620}} including the RFC Series Advisory Group (RSAG). The model was updated in 2012,{{Ref RFC|6635}}, and 2020.{{Ref RFC|8728}}
The streams were also refined in December 2009, with standards defined for their style.{{Ref RFC|5741}}
In January 2010, the RFC Editor function was moved to a contractor, Association Management Solutions, with Glenn Kowack serving as interim series editor.<ref>{{cite web |title= RFC Editor Transition Announcement |author= Glenn Kowack |date= January 7, 2010 |url= http://www.ietf.org/ibin/c5i?mid=6&rid=49&gid=0&k1=934&k2=7324&tid=1263251951 |archive-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629132754/https://www.ietf.org/ibin/c5i?mid=6&rid=49&gid=0&k1=934&k2=7324&tid=1263251951}}</ref> In late 2011, Heather Flanagan was hired as the permanent RFC Series Editor (RSE). Also at that time, an RFC Series Oversight Committee (RSOC) was created.<ref>{{cite web |title=The RFC Series Editor and the Series Reorganization |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rse/ |access-date=April 5, 2013 }}</ref>

In 2020, the IAB convened the RFC Editor Future Development program to discuss potential changes to the RFC Editor model. The results of the program were included the RFC Editor Model (Version 3) as defined in {{IETF RFC|9280|link=no}}, published in June 2022.{{Ref RFC|9280}} Generally, the new model is intended to clarify responsibilities and processes for defining and implementing policies related to the RFC series and the RFC Editor function. Changes in the new model included establishing the position of the RFC Consulting Editor, the RFC Series Working Group (RSWG), and the RFC Series Approval Board (RSAB). It also established a new Editorial Stream for the RFC Series and concluded the RSOC. The role of the RSE was changed to the RFC Series Consulting Editor (RSCE). In September 2022, Alexis Rossi was appointed to that position.<ref name="AlexiAppted">{{cite web |url=https://www.ietf.org/blog/rsce-appointment/ |title=Alexis Rossi appointed as RFC Series Consulting Editor |access-date=August 19, 2023}}</ref>

===New publishing format===
Requests for Comments were originally produced in non-[[Reflowable document|reflowable]] text format. In August 2019, the format was changed so that new documents can be viewed optimally in devices with varying display sizes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rse/format-faq/ |title=RFC Format Change FAQ}}</ref>