Effective Terminology in IETF Documents
charter-ietf-term-00-01

The mission of the IETF as specified in BCP 95 is to produce high quality,
relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use, and
manage the Internet. As RFC 7322 explains, "The ultimate goal of the RFC
publication process is to produce documents that are readable, clear,
consistent, and reasonably uniform." RFCs and Internet-drafts are most effective
when they use terminology that is clear, precise, and widely accessible to
readers from varying backgrounds and cultures.

In the years leading up to the chartering of this working group, there has been
discussion in the IETF, in other standards organizations, and in the technology
industry about the use of certain terms (such as "master/slave" and
"blacklist/whitelist") in technical documentation and whether those and other
terms have effects on inclusivity. While opinions vary among IETF participants
about this topic, there is general agreement that the IETF community would
benefit from informational recommendations about using effective and inclusive
terminology in IETF documents.

The TERM working group is therefore chartered to produce an Informational RFC
containing recommendations on the terminology to use in the technical work
produced by the IETF. The RFC will express general principles for judging when
language is inclusive or exclusive. The principles should match the expectations
from a broad set of IETF participants. The WG will also provide examples of
potentially problematic terms and potential alternatives, or link to an
external, independently-updated resource containing such information. The latter
may be preferred, because there will be some fluidity for some time while the
technology industry reviews its shared terminology.

The TERM working group is a focused group aiming to produce a single
deliverable. It is designed to complement other efforts at fostering inclusivity
in the IETF and will liaise with appropriate external groups, such as other SDOs
or industry initiatives, to coordinate.