[e2e] Protocols breaking the end-to-end argument

Craig Partridge craig at aland.bbn.com
Sun Oct 25 12:51:17 PDT 2009


> It wasn't until CLNP that I ever perceived a 'war' (or competition).  To
> me, it was always apparent that the war wasn't with the protocols per
> se, but rather the corporate entities that wanted to control pricing.

I find this historical discussion interesting because it suggests some
very different vantage points.

My vantage point was close to John Day's.  I was at BBN (arrived in 1983)
and there were internal debates of TCP/IP vs. TP0/X.25 with the additional
twist that folks like John and Ross Callon were working to develop TP4/CLNP
to compete with TP0/X.25.

We had cheerful debates over CLNP vs. IP.  (I read a draft or two of the
CLNP specs for Ross -- which led to an odd statement later during the
protocol wars where I was asked if I'd read the CLNP spec and the answer,
honestly, was "no" -- I'd read the earlier drafts...  and I got pilloried for
commenting on CLNP without reading it that bit of stupidity on my part).

But the big fight was TCP/IP vs. TP0/X.25 (or, more truthfully, my recollection
was the fight was TCP vs. X.25 -- where to put the smarts...)

Thanks!

Craig


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