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7. Historical Properties of the RFC Series

This section preserves the RFC text for the RFC Editor Model, including the responsibilities and processes involving the RSWG, RSAB, RPC, RSCE, IETF LLC, the Editorial Stream, appeals, policy implementation, and historical properties of the RFC Series.

Original RFC Text​

7.  Historical Properties of the RFC Series

   This section lists some of the properties that have been historically
   regarded as important to the RFC Series.  Proposals that affect these
   properties are possible within the processes defined in this
   document.  As described in Sections 3.2.2 and 3.2.3, proposals that
   might have a detrimental effect on these properties should receive
   heightened scrutiny during RSWG discussion and RSAB review.  The
   purpose of this scrutiny is to ensure that all changes are deliberate
   and that the consequences of a proposal, as far as they can be
   identified, have been carefully considered.

7.1.  Availability

   Documents in the RFC Series have been available for many decades,
   with no restrictions on access or distribution.

7.2.  Accessibility

   RFC Series documents have been published in a format that was
   intended to be as accessible as possible to people with disabilities,
   e.g., people with impaired sight.

7.3.  Language

   All existing RFC Series documents have been published in English.
   However, since the beginning of the RFC Series, documents have been
   published under terms that explicitly allow translation into
   languages other than English without asking for permission.

7.4.  Diversity

   The RFC Series has included many types of documents including
   standards for the Internet, procedural and informational documents,
   thought experiments, speculative ideas, research papers, histories,
   humor, and even eulogies.

7.5.  Quality

   RFC Series documents have been reviewed for subject matter quality
   and edited by professionals with a goal of ensuring that documents
   are clear, consistent, and readable [RFC7322].

7.6.  Stability

   (The text in this section is updated by Section 1.3.1.)

   Once published, RFCs may be reissued, but the semantic content of
   publication versions shall be preserved to the greatest extent
   possible, as described in Section 2.2 of [RFC9720].

7.7.  Longevity

   RFC Series documents have been published in a form intended to be
   comprehensible to humans for decades or longer.

7.8.  Consistency

   (The text in this section is added by Section 1.3.2.)

   RFCs are copyedited, formatted, and then published.  They may be
   reissued to maintain a consistent presentation.
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