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| 32 | | |
| 33 | | <table class="rfc2822 docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none"> |
| 34 | | <col class="field-name" /> |
| 35 | | <col class="field-body" /> |
| 36 | | <tbody valign="top"> |
| 37 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">BEP:</th><td class="field-body">1</td> |
| 38 | | </tr> |
| 39 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Title:</th><td class="field-body">The BitTorrent Enhancement Proposal Process</td> |
| 40 | | </tr> |
| 41 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Version:</th><td class="field-body">11054</td> |
| 42 | | </tr> |
| 43 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Last-Modified:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference external" href="http://bittorrent.org/trac/browser/dotorg/trunk/html/beps/bep_0001.rst">2008-05-02 20:19:03 -0700 (Fri, 02 May 2008)</a></td> |
| 44 | | </tr> |
| 45 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Author:</th><td class="field-body">David Harrison <dave at bittorrent.com></td> |
| 46 | | </tr> |
| 47 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Status:</th><td class="field-body">Active</td> |
| 48 | | </tr> |
| 49 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Type:</th><td class="field-body">Process</td> |
| 50 | | </tr> |
| 51 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Created:</th><td class="field-body">10-Jan-2008</td> |
| 52 | | </tr> |
| 53 | | <tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Post-History:</th><td class="field-body"></td> |
| 54 | | </tr> |
| 55 | | </tbody> |
| 56 | | </table> |
| 57 | | <hr /> |
| 58 | | <div class="contents topic" id="contents"> |
| 59 | | <p class="topic-title first">Contents</p> |
| 60 | | <ul class="simple"> |
| 61 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#what-is-a-bep" id="id3">What is a BEP</a></li> |
| 62 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#bep-types" id="id4">BEP Types</a></li> |
| 63 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#bep-work-flow" id="id5">BEP Work Flow</a></li> |
| 64 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#intellectual-property-and-bittorrent-standards" id="id6">Intellectual Property and BitTorrent Standards</a></li> |
| 65 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#history" id="id7">History</a></li> |
| 66 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#acknowledgements" id="id8">Acknowledgements</a></li> |
| 67 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#references-and-footnotes" id="id9">References and Footnotes</a></li> |
| 68 | | <li><a class="reference internal" href="#copyright" id="id10">Copyright</a></li> |
| 69 | | </ul> |
| 70 | | </div> |
| 71 | | <div class="section" id="what-is-a-bep"> |
| 72 | | <h1>What is a BEP</h1> |
| 73 | | <p>BEP stands for BitTorrent Enhancement Proposal. A BEP is a design |
| 74 | | document providing information to the BitTorrent community, or |
| 75 | | describing a new feature for the BitTorrent protocols. The BEP should |
| 76 | | provide a concise technical specification of the feature and a |
| 77 | | rationale for the feature.</p> |
| 78 | | <p>We intend BEPs to be the primary mechanisms for proposing new |
| 79 | | features, for collecting community input on an issue, and for |
| 80 | | documenting the design decisions that have gone into BitTorrent. The BEP |
| 81 | | author is responsible for building consensus within the community and |
| 82 | | documenting dissenting opinions.</p> |
| 83 | | <p>Because the BEPs are maintained as reStructured text files in a versioned |
| 84 | | repository, their revision history is the historical record of the |
| 85 | | feature proposal <a class="footnote-reference" href="#svn" id="id1">[1]</a>.</p> |
| 86 | | </div> |
| 87 | | <div class="section" id="bep-types"> |
| 88 | | <h1>BEP Types</h1> |
| 89 | | <p>There are three kinds of BEP:</p> |
| 90 | | <blockquote> |
| 91 | | <ol class="arabic simple"> |
| 92 | | <li>A Standards Track BEP describes an extension to one of the BitTorrent |
| 93 | | protocols or a change in the behavior of one of the actors in these |
| 94 | | protocols, where the actors are currently clients, trackers, and web |
| 95 | | servers.</li> |
| 96 | | <li>An Informational BEP describes a BitTorrent design issue, or |
| 97 | | provides general guidelines or information to the BitTorrent |
| 98 | | community, but does not propose an extension. Informational BEPs |
| 99 | | do not necessarily represent a BitTorrent community consensus or |
| 100 | | recommendation, so users and implementors are free to ignore |
| 101 | | Informational BEPs or follow their advice.</li> |
| 102 | | <li>A Process BEP describes a process surrounding BitTorrent, or |
| 103 | | proposes a change to (or an event in) a process. Process BEPs are |
| 104 | | like Standards Track BEPs but apply to areas other than the |
| 105 | | BitTorrent protocols. They are more than recommendations, and |
| 106 | | users are typically not free to ignore them. Examples include |
| 107 | | release schedules, procedures, guidelines, changes to the |
| 108 | | decision-making process, and changes to the tools or environment |
| 109 | | used in BitTorrent development.</li> |
| 110 | | </ol> |
| 111 | | </blockquote> |
| 112 | | </div> |
| 113 | | <div class="section" id="bep-work-flow"> |
| 114 | | <h1>BEP Work Flow</h1> |
| 115 | | <p>The BEP editors assign BEP numbers and change their status. The |
| 116 | | current BEP editors are David Harrison and Arvid Norberg. Please send |
| 117 | | all BEP-related email to <<a class="reference external" href="mailto:editor%40bittorrent.org">editor<span>@</span>bittorrent<span>.</span>org</a>>. Also see BEP Editor |
| 118 | | Responsibilities & Workflow below.</p> |
| 119 | | <p>The BEP process begins with a new idea for the BitTorrent |
| 120 | | protocols. It is highly recommended that a single BEP contain a single |
| 121 | | key proposal. The BEP editor reserves the right to reject BEP |
| 122 | | proposals if they appear unfocussed or overly broad. If in doubt, |
| 123 | | split your BEP into muliple BEPs.</p> |
| 124 | | <p>Each BEP must have a champion -- someone who writes the BEP using the |
| 125 | | style and format described below, shepherds the discussions in the |
| 126 | | appropriate forums, and attempts to build community consensus around |
| 127 | | the idea. The BEP champion should first post a description of the idea |
| 128 | | to the BEPs forum at forum.bittorrent.org.</p> |
| 129 | | <p>If the champion believes the idea warrants a BEP then the champion |
| 130 | | emails the BEP editor <<a class="reference external" href="mailto:editor%40bittorrent.org">editor<span>@</span>bittorrent<span>.</span>org</a>> with a proposed title |
| 131 | | and a draft of the BEP. This draft must be written in BEP style as |
| 132 | | described below.</p> |
| 133 | | <p>If the BEP editor approves, he assigns the BEP a number, labels it as |
| 134 | | Standards Track, Informational, or Process, gives it status "Draft", |
| 135 | | and creates and checks-in the initial draft of the BEP to the |
| 136 | | subversion repository. The BEP editor will not unreasonably |
| 137 | | deny a BEP. Reasons for denying BEP status include duplication of |
| 138 | | effort, being technically unsound, not providing proper motivation or |
| 139 | | not addressing backwards compatibility. The BDFL (Benevolent Dictator |
| 140 | | for Life, Bram Cohen) can be consulted during the approval phase, and |
| 141 | | is the final arbiter of the draft's BEP-ability.</p> |
| 142 | | <p>If a pre-BEP is rejected, the author may elect to take the pre-BEP to |
| 143 | | the BEP forum seeking feedback and consesnsus from the community at large. |
| 144 | | A proposal may be re-submitted after it has been revised.</p> |
| 145 | | <p>The champion is then responsible for marshaling community support for |
| 146 | | it. As updates are necessary, the BEP author can check in new versions |
| 147 | | if they have SVN commit permissions, or can email new BEP versions to |
| 148 | | the BEP editor for committing.</p> |
| 149 | | <p>Standards Track BEPs consist of two parts, a design document and a |
| 150 | | reference implementation. The reference implementation need not be |
| 151 | | complete when a BEP is submitted to the editors. However Standards |
| 152 | | Track BEPs must include an implementation in at least one BitTorrent |
| 153 | | client with publicy available code before it can be considered Final.</p> |
| 154 | | <p>BEP champions are responsible for collecting community feedback on a |
| 155 | | BEP before submitting it for review. A BEP that has not been discussed |
| 156 | | in the BEPs forum on forum.bittorrent.org will not be |
| 157 | | accepted. However, wherever possible, long open-ended discussions in |
| 158 | | the BEP forum should be avoided. Strategies to keep the discussions |
| 159 | | efficient include: setting up a separate SIG forum for the topic, |
| 160 | | having the BEP author accept private comments in the early design |
| 161 | | phases, setting up a wiki page, etc. BEP authors should use their |
| 162 | | discretion here.</p> |
| 163 | | <p>Once the authors have completed a BEP, they must inform the BEP editor |
| 164 | | that it is ready for review. BEPs are reviewed by the BDFL and his |
| 165 | | chosen consultants, who may accept or reject a BEP or send it back to |
| 166 | | the author(s) for revision. For a BEP that is pre-determined to be |
| 167 | | acceptable (e.g., it is an obvious win as-is and/or its implementation |
| 168 | | already exists in one or more popular BitTorrent clients) the BDFL may |
| 169 | | also initiate a BEP review, first notifying the BEP author(s) and |
| 170 | | giving them a chance to make revisions.</p> |
| 171 | | <p>For a BEP to be accepted it must meet certain minimum criteria. It |
| 172 | | must be a clear and complete description of the proposed |
| 173 | | enhancement. The enhancement must represent a net improvement. The |
| 174 | | proposed implementation, if applicable, must be functional and have |
| 175 | | been tested in live BitTorrent swarms. Supporting results from |
| 176 | | analyses, testbed experiments and event-based simulations are also |
| 177 | | recommended where appropriate. A Standards Track document should |
| 178 | | include the rationale behind a proposal and may briefly summarize |
| 179 | | analytical, simulation, or experimental results where necessary to |
| 180 | | illustrate or motivate the enhancement. However, detailed analytical, |
| 181 | | simulation, and experiment results, especially comparing different |
| 182 | | approaches to the same problem should be omitted from Standards Track |
| 183 | | BEPs and instead cited from a published paper or a separate |
| 184 | | Informational BEP.</p> |
| 185 | | <p>Once a BEP has been accepted, the reference implementation must be |
| 186 | | completed. When the reference implementation is complete and accepted |
| 187 | | by the BDFL, the status will be changed to "Final".</p> |
| 188 | | <p>A BEP can also be assigned status "Deferred". The BEP author or editor |
| 189 | | can assign the BEP this status when no progress is being made on the |
| 190 | | BEP. Once a BEP is deferred, the BEP editor can re-assign it to draft |
| 191 | | status.</p> |
| 192 | | <p>A BEP can also be "Rejected". Perhaps after all is said and done it |
| 193 | | was not a good idea. It is still important to have a record of this |
| 194 | | fact.</p> |
| 195 | | <p>BEPs can also be replaced by a different BEP, rendering the original |
| 196 | | obsolete. This is intended for Informational BEPs, where version 2 of |
| 197 | | an API can replace version 1.</p> |
| 198 | | <p>The possible paths of the status of BEPs are as follows:</p> |
| 199 | | <img alt="bep_0001_1.png" src="bep_0001_1.png" /> |
| 200 | | </div> |
| 201 | | <div class="section" id="intellectual-property-and-bittorrent-standards"> |
| 202 | | <h1>Intellectual Property and BitTorrent Standards</h1> |
| 203 | | <p>Any idea submitted in a BEP will not be considered for standardization |
| 204 | | if the idea is not in the public domain. Before a BEP can be |
| 205 | | considered Final, all people (including the BEP authors) or entities |
| 206 | | with a claim on the intellectual property expressed in a BEP must |
| 207 | | assign in writing all intellectual property expressed in the BEP to |
| 208 | | the public domain. If the BEP authors lack the power to assign |
| 209 | | intellectual property rights then they must disclose this fact before |
| 210 | | the BEP can be considered Final.</p> |
| 211 | | <p>Furthermore BEP authors should not knowingly propose anything in their |
| 212 | | BEPs that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others.</p> |
| 213 | | <p>This policy statement should not be construed as meaning that BEP |
| 214 | | authors are required to assign software implementations of any |
| 215 | | particular idea to the public domain. BitTorrent implementors may |
| 216 | | retain all rights to their implementations.</p> |
| 217 | | </div> |
| 218 | | <div class="section" id="history"> |
| 219 | | <h1>History</h1> |
| 220 | | <p>This document was derived heavily from PEP-0001 <a class="footnote-reference" href="#pep-1" id="id2">[2]</a>. In many places |
| 221 | | text was simply copied and modified. Although the PEP-0001 text |
| 222 | | was written by Barry Warsaw, Jeremy Hylton, and David Goodger, they |
| 223 | | are not responsible for its use in the BitTorent Enhancement Process, |
| 224 | | and should not be bothered with technical questions specific to |
| 225 | | BitTorrent or the BEP process. Please direct all comments to the |
| 226 | | BitTorrent editors <<a class="reference external" href="mailto:editor%40bittorrent.org">editor<span>@</span>bittorrent<span>.</span>org</a>> or the forums at |
| 227 | | forum.bittorrent.org.</p> |
| 228 | | </div> |
| 229 | | <div class="section" id="acknowledgements"> |
| 230 | | <h1>Acknowledgements</h1> |
| 231 | | <p>Thanks to Barry Warsaw, David Goodger, and Guido van Rossum for their |
| 232 | | guidance.</p> |
| 233 | | </div> |
| 234 | | <div class="section" id="references-and-footnotes"> |
| 235 | | <h1>References and Footnotes</h1> |
| 236 | | <table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="svn" rules="none"> |
| 237 | | <colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> |
| 238 | | <tbody valign="top"> |
| 239 | | <tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id1">[1]</a></td><td>This historical record is available by the normal SVN |
| 240 | | commands for retrieving older revisions. For those without direct |
| 241 | | access to the SVN tree, you can browse the current and past BEP |
| 242 | | revisions here: <a class="reference external" href="http://bittorrent.org/trac/">http://bittorrent.org/trac/</a></td></tr> |
| 243 | | </tbody> |
| 244 | | </table> |
| 245 | | <table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="pep-1" rules="none"> |
| 246 | | <colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> |
| 247 | | <tbody valign="top"> |
| 248 | | <tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id2">[2]</a></td><td>PEP-001: PEP Purposes and Guidelines, Warsaw, Hylton, Goodger. |
| 249 | | (<a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0001">http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0001</a>)</td></tr> |
| 250 | | </tbody> |
| 251 | | </table> |
| 252 | | </div> |
| 253 | | <div class="section" id="copyright"> |
| 254 | | <h1>Copyright</h1> |
| 255 | | <p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p> |
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