Subject: [Acme] ACME and Let's Encrypt

From: Josh Aas <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:05:13 -0600

Hey all,

Some folks have asked about the relationship between ACME and Let's
Encrypt, and in particular, whether the Let's Encrypt launch is gated
on having an RFC for ACME.  I would like to make clear that that is
not the case, but that we are still strongly committed to openness.

As stated in the original announcement, Let's Encrypt plans to begin
operations in Q2 2015.  That's only a matter of months from now -- the
blink of an eye in IETF time.  It will not be practical for Let's
Encrypt to wait for the IETF process to conclude.  Instead, we will
deploy the initial Let's Encrypt service based on a draft version of
ACME.  As they say, the Internet runs on Internet-drafts.

We remain strongly committed to openness in the operation of Let's
Encrypt.  All of the protocols used by Let's Encrypt will be published
in our GitHub repositories, and we will continue to work in the IETF
to make an ACME RFC that meets the needs of many stakeholders.

Hope this helps clear things up,
Josh

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From: Iban Eguia <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 09:08:47 +0200

Hi,
how is going to be updated if there is a major change in the draft? is
there going to be a need to be changing the software as the draft changes?

Best regards,

Iban

2014-12-17 23:05 GMT+02:00 Josh Aas <[email-masked]>:
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From: "Salz, Rich" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 07:49:39 -0500

> how is going to be updated if there is a major change in the draft? is there going to be a need to be changing the software as the draft changes?

Yes.

No different than any other software/standard interaction, such as TLS 1.3, HTTP/2, and so on.

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From: Phillip Hallam-Baker <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 10:28:38 -0500

I really want the two to be separated because otherwise it is going to be
very difficult to make progress.

It is really hard to get progress on a spec or a good outcome if all the
proposals from one group of participants are being dismissed as wrecking
amendments. It is even harder when that group of participants is the one
with the longest experience in the business.