Internet Core Protocols: The Definitive Guide

Changes to the documents

Over time, the state of the technology may change to such a degree that fundamental alterations must be made to a proposal. Typically, changes that require radical modifications will result in the creation of a new IETF working group, or a re-chartering of the existing working group.

Minor changes that do not have a significant impact on the technology are allowed at any time, although typically these changes are made whenever a document moves to the next step in the standards process. For example, a Proposed Standard may require some minor modifications, and those changes could be incorporated into the document when it becomes a Draft Standard.

However, no changes (except for typographical or spelling errors) are allowed to be made to a document when it moves from the Draft Standard stage to the Internet Standard stage.

If the changes made at any of these transition points are severe, the new document may be required to re-enter the process as a Proposed Standard, effectively requiring that the process be restarted.