The DHCP Forum will benefit members by focusing on security related issues, including early private warning on attacks, defects, and patches. ISC's software is Open Source, and thus any critical information regarding the security of the protocol or implementation will be disclosed and explained to the internet community. However, ISC believes that it is essential that members of the community who are trusted by users to protect the Internet from these dangers have an opportunity to stay ahead of potential problems by delivering a patch for their customers before this inevitable disclosure occurs. These trusted members of the community include operators of critical nameservers, and vendors who ship ISC DHCP in their products. It is expected that CERT/CC (Carnegi Mellon Emergency Resonse Team/Coordination Center) and ISC will continue to coordinate the release of security-critical information.
These benefits are listed in detail here:
Individual Direct notification of patches. Via email, notifications will be sent out as soon as patches become available with direct link for download.
Invitation to DHCP Developers Meeting. Annual meeting for all DHCP Forum members to discuss DHCP roadmap and other topical issues. These meetings will generally be held in conjunction with a more general industry meeting. Travel expenses are the responsibility of the member.
Periodic Newsletter. Newsletter focus will include DHCP version status updates, protocol updates and other news.
Forum style mailing list. All members are invited to participate in open discussion of DHCP related issues and questions. ISC staff will participate to address questions and provide tips.
Priority bug fixes. Bug reports submitted by Forum members will be addressed in advance of other bug reports, excluding security vulnerabilities.
Early security vulnerability Bulletins. Based upon membership levels, DHCP Forum members will receive notification of known DHCP security vulnerabilities up to 10 days prior to the release of such information through CERT. This information is released under NDA and requires a PGP key.
Read only access to the DHCP CVS repository. CVS access is available via SSH or CVSweb to DHCP Forum members based upon membership level.
Training events. DHCP FORUM members have access to periodic training events sponsored by ISC. Topics include implementation and upgrade tips, debugging tactics and special interest topics such as integration, protocol changes, etc. Training events will be held in conjunction with Forum meeting or other industry conferences. Travel expenses are the responsibility of the member. These events may also be open to the public for a fee based upon space availability.
3rd line support. ISC engineers will address questions posed by DHCP FORUM members dealing with complex problems or integration issues. This benefit is limited to OEM and Patron level members. A certification process is being defined to ensure ISC is providing 3rd line support and not general help desk questions. See the service request priority table.
Access to pre-release version of DHCP software during final testing. Access to DHCP software will be provided to OEM and Patron members during final testing prior to general public availability. Security patches and general bug releases are excluded from the early release program.
Feature priority planning. All members are invited to attend the DHCP Developers Forum meeting. Further discussion and prioritization of proposed features will be continued at this meeting. Much of the discussion will focus on implementation issues and compatibility.
Discounted custom development fees. ISC currently does custom code development. Forum members will be offered a discount rate for special projects assuming subsequent contribution to open source distribution.