Re: Services Operations WG

[Daniel Karrenberg <]

  > "Erik Huizer (SURFnet BV)" <Erik.Huizer@localhost writes:
  > Since the QED list has been quiet for some time without coming up with a
  > real concensus on how to integrate operational meetings for service
  > providers that want to discuss Services and applications (i.e. above
  > transport layer) issues. Several proposed using the IEPG, and I hesitantly
  > said that might be the right place, 
  > but I feared for coordination of several
  > application services. Since then the EEPG has been established, and to my
  > surprise (no judgement intended) as a WG under RIPE. As the EEPG will be
  > delivering the European IEPG members, that gives me a European insight
  > into what falls within the capacity of an IEPG and what seems to be outside
  > off its scope. 
  > 
  > I don't see such a group harbouring Directory Service Operations,
  > Information service operations, Secure mail operations, x400ops etc.

Erik,

RIPE is a forum for network service providers.  There have been attempts
to also discuss information services etc.  in RIPE but they have
produced less concrete results than the network service related efforts.
From such fora (including the IEPG in my opinion) you can only expect
that they deal with the problems relevant to their constituency.  Only a
few application services are relevant to network service providers; for
the others you need another forum woth other players involved. 
It is just like publishers and the printing industry.  
They are related but different. 
I do not think that mixing the two will work very well. 

Daniel