Subject: Re: [idn] MUST/SHOULD vs. must/should

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 00:59:11 EST

In a message dated 2002-01-31 13:45:46 Pacific Standard Time, 
[email-masked] writes:

> Am I the only one who prefers must/should/etc. over MUST/SHOULD/etc?  If
> there is anyone else, please speak up now.

I never thought it made any difference whether "must" was capitalized; it 
still means "must" either way.  Furthermore, I find all-capitalization of 
ordinary words annoying, sort of like those computer magazines of the '80s 
like COMPUTE! that always reminded you to "SAVE a copy before you RUN it."

OTOH, one of the software QA guys at my work thinks capitalizing "MUST" is a 
terrific idea, because it draws your eye to the actual requirements (as 
opposed to non-normative background information).  So maybe he knows 
something I don't.

-Doug Ewell
 Fullerton, California

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From: Patrik Fältström <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 09:46:24 +0100

--On 2002-02-01 00.59 -0500 [email-masked] wrote:

> still means "must" either way.

The IESG prefer words which have meaning defined in RFC 2119 are to be in
all-caps. Other use of the same words are to be lowercase.

    paf
    Speaking as IESG member (but not AD for this wg)