Welcome to the IETF!
We recommend that everyone who wants to get started with the IETF reads our Introduction to the IETF as this succinctly covers the basics of what we are, who we are, what we do and how we do it.
Once you have a basic understanding of the IETF and an idea how you would like to get involved, we recommend that you read one of the following guides, depending on how you would like to start::
- If you are interested in reading or implementing existing RFCs then About RFCs explains the basics of the RFC Series.
- If you want to get involved in some work that is already in progress in the IETF, read the Guide to IETF Working Groups. This explains what a working group is, how to participate and how Working Groups operate. As almost all of the work of the IETF takes place in Working Groups, this is key reading for anyone who wishes to participate in the IETF.
- If you have some work that you want to bring to the IETF, then we recommend that you read Bringing new work to the IETF. This goes into detail on the various paths to follow.
- If you are considering participating in an IETF meeting the we recommend reading the Guide to IETF Meetings. This is also a useful reference for those who are still unfamiliar with certain aspects of the IETF.
Of course, you can always jump straight in and subscribe to a Mailing List.
If you want to see the IETF in action, then see our YouTube Channel, which has over 4000 recordings of IETF working sessions, generally published within hours of a session finishing.
7.1 What You Can Do Read: Review the Internet-Drafts in your area of expertise and comment on them in the Working Groups. Participate in the discussion in a friendly, helpful fashion, with the goal being the best Internet standards possible. Listen much more than you speak. If you disagree, debate the technical issues: never attack the people.
Implement: Write programs that use the current Internet standards. The standards aren't worth much unless they are available to Internet users. Implement even the "minor" standards, since they will become less minor if they appear in more software. Report any problems you find with the standards to the appropriate Working Group so that the standard can be clarified in later revisions. Remember the tenet, "rough consensus and running code," so you can help support the standards you want to become more widespread by creating more running code. You can help the development of protocols before they become standards by implementing I-Ds (but not doing wide-spread deployment) to ensure that the authors have done a good job. If you find errors or omissions, offer improvements based on your implementation experience. A great way to get involved in this is by participating in the Hackathons.
Write: Edit or co-author Internet-Drafts in your area of expertise. Do this for the benefit of the Internet community, not to get your name (or, even worse, your company's name) on a document. Draft authors receive kinds of technical (and, sadly, sometimes personal) criticism. Take the technical comments with equanimity and use it to improve your draft in order to produce the best and most interoperable standard, and ignore the personal ones.
7.2 What Your Company Can Do Share: Avoid proprietary standards. If you are an implementor, exhibit a strong preference for IETF standards. If the IETF standards aren't as good as the proprietary standards, work to make the IETF standards better. If you're a purchaser, avoid products that use proprietary standards that compete with the open standards of the IETF and tell the vendors that you are doing so.
Open Up: If your company owns a patent that is used in an IETF standard, convince the company to make the patent available at no cost to anyone who is implementing the standard. Patents have previously caused many serious problems for Internet standards because they prevent some companies from being able to freely implement them. Fortunately, many companies have generously offered unlimited licenses for particular patents in order to help the IETF standards flourish. These companies are usually rewarded with positive publicity for the fact that they are not as greedy or short-sighted as other patent-holders.
Support: The IETF has sponsorship opportunities and an endowment which can also take individual-sized donations. Become a member of ISOC. Urge any company that has benefited from the Internet to contribute, since this has the greatest financial benefit for the group. It will, of course, also benefit the Internet as a whole.