The Harmful Consequences of the Robustness Principle
Martin Thomson · 2019
Jon Postel's famous statement of Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send is a principle that has long guided the design and implementation of Internet protocols. The posture this statement advocates promotes interoperability in the short term, but can negatively affect the protocol ecosystem over time. For a protocol that is actively maintained, the robustness principle can, and should, be avoided.