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  The keywords "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted exactly as how much we do not want to review your generated submission.
I know it is in jest, but I really hate that so many documents include “shall”. The interpretation of which has had official legal rulings going both ways.

You MUST use less ambiguous language and default to “MUST” or “SHOULD”

 help



Right. I think when these appear in some documentation related to computing, they should also mention whether it is using these words in compliance with RFC 2119 or RFC 6919.

Must is a strict requirement, no flexibility. Shall is a recommendation or a duty, you should do it. You must put gas in the car to drive it. You shall get an oil change every 6000 miles.

Well then you MUST reread RFC 2119, because your version of SHALL differs from the spec which says SHALL is equivalent to MUST and a hard requirement.

Perfectly making my point. Shall has no business being in a spec when you have unambiguous alternatives.


Many legal documents use "may" to say you must. That's why i hate legalese...

Hmm, that's annoying, I'd take may as "CAN"

"may only" and "may not", however, are unambiguously hard limits, which makes things even more confusing.

"may only" means your pleasure is limited only to what options the agreement allows, which is a polite way of saying can not.

Legal documents use "may" to allow for something. Usually it only needs to be allowed so that it can happen. So I read terms of service and privacy policies like all "may" is "will". "Your data may (will) be shared with (sold to) one or more of (all of) our data processing partners. You may (will) be asked (demanded) to provide identity verification, which may (will) include (but is not limited to) [everything on your passport]." And so on.

I don't know what terrible lawyers were hired to draft these "many" documents, but please share some examples.



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