RFC 1311

Introduction to the STD Notes 💖

📄 Okay bestie, the title block first! This is RFC 1311, titled Introduction to the STD Notes. It's from the Network Working Group, with J. Postel as Editor and the Internet Activities Board in the header. It's dated March 1992 🌸

It doesn't obsolete or update any other RFC, since the title block doesn't list any 🙈 It also doesn't spell out a category, so its status lives in the Status of this Memo section right below 👇

Status of this Memo ✨

This RFC describes a new sub-series of RFCs, called STDs (Standards). Distribution of this memo is unlimited. 🦋

1. Introduction 🌈

The STDs are a subseries of notes within the RFC series that are the Internet standards. The whole point is to clearly tell the Internet community which RFCs document Internet standards 💅

2. The Assignment of STD Numbers 🎀

Okay so there's a real need to be super clear about which specifications have finished the full standardization process on the Internet 👀 To do that, an STD number gets assigned to a specification when it reaches the Standard maturity level. Specifications can be either Technical Specifications (TS) or Applicability Statements (AS) 🫶

When a specification reaches the final stage of the standardization process and the IAB has designated it a standard for the Internet, an STD number gets assigned to it 💖

The existing standards have been assigned STD numbers (see Appendix) ✨

The standard for a particular protocol will always have the same STD number. It's giving stability 🔥

If a protocol gets reworked at some future time and a new document is produced as the specification of that standard, and the IAB designates the new specification as a standard for the Internet, then the new document gets labeled with the same STD number. Of course, that new document will have a new RFC number 🧚

Multiple Documents for One Standard 🌸

A STD number identifies a standard, not a document. A document is identified by its RFC number 💜 If the specification of a standard is spread over several documents, they'll each carry the same STD number.

For example, the Domain Name System (DNS) is currently specified by the combination of RFCs 1034 and 1035. Both of these documents are now labeled STD-13 🍓

To be completely clear, the DNS "Concepts and Facilities" document can be referenced as STD-13/RFC-1034.

In cases like this, whenever possible, the set of documents defining a particular standard will cross reference each other 🫶

One Standard or Multiple Standards 🦋

Deciding whether a set of documents describes one standard or multiple standards is honestly a tough one 😭 In the Appendix you can see several cases where one STD applies to multiple RFCs (see STDs 5, 13, and 20). There's also one case where a family of specifications has multiple STD numbers, and that's the Telnet Options 🌈

The general rule is that a separate STD number gets used when the specification is logically separable. So logically separable options get distinct STD numbers, while amendments and non-optional extensions use the same STD number as the base specification 👑

Multiple Versions or Editions of a Standard 💅

Sometimes the documentation of a standard gets updated or replaced with a new document. In those cases, the same STD number gets used to label the standard. No version numbers get attached to STD numbers 🙌 There's no confusion about having the up-to-date document for STD-9, since each version of the document has a distinct RFC number (and of course a different date) ✨

The complete identification of a specification and its document is the combination of the STD and the RFC. For example, STD-13/RFC-1035 completely identifies the current version of the second part of the Domain Name System specification 💖

To completely identify all of the DNS standard, the citation would be STD-13/RFC-1034/RFC-1035 🎀

One way to think about it: an acronym (like TCP) refers to a concept, which is called a protocol. An RFC number (like RFC-793) indicates the specific version of the protocol specification. An STD number (like STD-7) designates the status of the protocol 🧠✨

2. Why an RFC Subseries ? 🍓

There are several reasons why the STDs are part of the larger RFC series of notes 💜

The foremost reason is that the distribution mechanisms for RFCs are tried and true. Anyone who can get an RFC can automatically get an STD. Even better, anyone who knows about the RFC series can easily find the STDs 🌸

Another reason is that the maintenance mechanisms for RFCs are already in place. It makes sense to maintain similar documents in a similar way 🫶

3. Format Rules 🦋

Since the STDs are part of the RFC series, they must conform to "Request for Comments on Request for Comments: Instructions to RFC Authors" (RFC-1111) with respect to format 📝

3.1. Status Statement 💖

Each STD RFC must include the "Status of this Memo" section on its first page. That section contains a paragraph describing the intention of the RFC. It's meant to convey the status approved by the Internet Activities Board (IAB) 👑

3.2. Distribution Statement 🌈

Each STD RFC will also include a "distribution statement". Since the purpose of the STD series is to disseminate information, there's no reason for the distribution to be anything other than "unlimited" 🧚

Typically, the distribution statement is just the sentence "Distribution of this memo is unlimited." added to the end of the "Status of this Memo" section 💅

3.3. Security Considerations 💀

All STD RFCs must contain a section that discusses the security considerations of the procedures that are the main topic of the RFC. This one is serious, so don't skip it 🔐

3.4. Author's Address 🎀

Each STD RFC must have, right at the very end, a section giving the author's address. That includes the name and postal address, the telephone number, and the Internet email address 📮

If there are multiple authors, each of them will be listed. If a document is produced by a group, the editor of the document will be listed, and the chair of the group may optionally be listed too 🫶

4. The STD Publication 👑

New documents can only become STD RFCs through an action of the IAB. The RFC Editor performs the publication of STDs 💅

5. STD Announcements 📣

New STD RFCs are announced to the RFC distribution list maintained by the Network Information Center (NIC). To be added or deleted from this mailing list, contact the NIC by sending an email message to RFC-REQUEST@NIC.DDN.MIL 💌

6. Obtaining STDs 🌸

STD RFCs can be obtained in the same way as any RFC 🦋

Details on obtaining RFCs via FTP or EMAIL can be found by sending an EMAIL message to rfc-info@ISI.EDU with the message body "help: ways_to_get_rfcs". For example:

To: rfc-info@ISI.EDU
Subject: getting rfcs

help: ways_to_get_rfcs

The current standards are listed in the "IAB Official Protocol Standards" (which is STD-1), whose current edition is RFC-1280 ✨

Security Considerations 💀

Security issues are not discussed in this memo. Hold onto that one, bestie 🫶

Author's Address 🖋️

Jon Postel
USC/Information Sciences Institute
4676 Admiralty Way
Marina del Rey, CA 90292

Phone: 310-822-1511
Fax:   310-823-6714

Email: Postel@ISI.EDU

APPENDIX -- The Grandfathered STDs 🏆

Here are all the grandfathered standards, the OG list 👑

Protocol   Name                                      Status    RFC  STD
========   =====================================     ======= ===== ====
--------   IAB Official Protocol Standards           Req      1280    1
--------   Assigned Numbers                          Req      1060    2
--------   Host Requirements                         Req 1122,1123    3
--------   Gateway Requirements                      Req      1009    4
IP         Internet Protocol                         Req       791    5
            as amended by:
--------     IP Subnet Extension                     Req       950    5
--------     IP Broadcast Datagrams                  Req       919    5
--------     IP Broadcast Datagrams with Subnets     Req       922    5
ICMP       Internet Control Message Protocol         Req       792    5
IGMP       Internet Group Multicast Protocol         Rec      1112    5
UDP        User Datagram Protocol                    Rec       768    6
TCP        Transmission Control Protocol             Rec       793    7
TELNET     Telnet Protocol                           Rec   854,855    8
FTP        File Transfer Protocol                    Rec       959    9
SMTP       Simple Mail Transfer Protocol             Rec       821   10
MAIL       Format of Electronic Mail Messages        Rec       822   11
CONTENT    Content Type Header Field                 Rec      1049   11
NTP        Network Time Protocol                     Rec      1119   12
DOMAIN     Domain Name System                        Rec 1034,1035   13
DNS-MX     Mail Routing and the Domain System        Rec       974   14
SNMP       Simple Network Management Protocol        Rec      1157   15
SMI        Structure of Management Information       Rec      1155   16
MIB-II     Management Information Base-II            Rec      1213   17
EGP        Exterior Gateway Protocol                 Rec       904   18
NETBIOS    NetBIOS Service Protocols                 Ele 1001,1002   19
ECHO       Echo Protocol                             Rec       862   20
DISCARD    Discard Protocol                          Ele       863   21
CHARGEN    Character Generator Protocol              Ele       864   22
QUOTE      Quote of the Day Protocol                 Ele       865   23
USERS      Active Users Protocol                     Ele       866   24
DAYTIME    Daytime Protocol                          Ele       867   25
TIME       Time Server Protocol                      Ele       868   26

Telnet Options                               Option  Status    RFC  STD
========   ================================= ======  ======= ===== ====
TOPT-BIN   Binary Transmission                 0     Rec       856   27
TOPT-ECHO  Echo                                1     Rec       857   28
TOPT-SUPP  Suppress Go Ahead                   3     Rec       858   29
TOPT-STAT  Status                              5     Rec       859   30
TOPT-TIM   Timing Mark                         6     Rec       860   31
TOPT-EXTOP Extended-Options-List             255     Rec       861   32

---

That's the whole RFC, bestie! 🌈💖✨