How crazy and bureaucratic the Internet has grown!
RFC #1 was basically a one-pager: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=1#gsc.tab=0
RFC #371 was literally a conference advertisement: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=371#gsc.tab=0
RFC #1 was basically a one-pager: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=1#gsc.tab=0
RFC #371 was literally a conference advertisement: https://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc?rfc=371#gsc.tab=0
Seriously though... IETF process is the way it is because of a long history of humans arguing with each other over process, intent and interpretation. Add to that all the drama about IP in the 90s and you get a perfect storm of bureaucracy. But the weird thing is we're probably better off with the bureaucracy than without it. I only saw a bit of the process in 2008-2010 when I convened several BOF sessions and chartered a working group, but it did seem like the rules were there to prevent shenanigans.
I learned PLENTY of history in the Application area, none of which seemed to be documented anywhere. I would guess people had different recollections of that history anyway.
IETF process is byzantine, but if you ask around, the greybeards have a story or two describing why each bit of bureaucratic process was introduced.
You have a strange notion of “one-pager”. It’s eleven pages; strip headers, footers, excess blank lines, table of contents, and three diagrams, and it’s still over 300 lines (some 70 blank) and 2000 words.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day_Request_f...
Definitely worth of a RFC!