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An RFC is a Request for Comments, an invitation to debate. Anyone can publish an RFC.

Right - then IETF adopts approved RFC's and publishes them as internet standards. What we're discussing in this thread are accepted / approved internet standards - not just some random RFC that some dude tossed up on a work group.

It’s not like there is some kind of internet police that’ll come after you if you don’t follow the RFCs, whether IETF approves them or not. You can decide to follow them all the way, partly or not at all.

Or you can debate them as much as you want, or even publish a new and improved version and perhaps people will decide to follow that instead. Or perhaps they’ll just do whatever they feel like.

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