alt Hacker NewsMaybe the standards documents you are used to differ from RFCs, but here is the official language:
3. SHOULD This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED", mean that there
may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a
particular item, but the full implications must be understood and
carefully weighed before choosing a different course.
Replies
BeetleB • today at 12:10 AM
Nope, it's exactly what it says: RECOMMENDED.
Any time any document (standards or otherwise) says something is recommended, then of course you should think it through before going against the recommendation. Going from their verbiage to:
> SHOULD is effectively REQUIRED unless it conflicts with another standards requirement or you have a very specific edge case.
is a fairly big leap.
andoando • today at 12:50 AM
required means it must exist, not that it may or may not exist depending on the reason
I just don't understand how you get from the text you pasted to "required". Nowhere does it say that anything is effectively required. Words have meaning.