RFC 514 (rfc514) - Page 2 of 4

Network make-work

RFC 514                    NETWORK MAKE-WORK                5 June 1973


   Listings of every program available to network users?  Has anybody
   calculated how much paper would be generated?  How many trees would
   have to be cut down for this paper?  How many filing cabinets are
   going to be needed?  How is this massive amount of information in its
   totality going to be of use anyone?  Is there going to be an
   answering service which will answer such questions as to what is on
   the third line of page 5 of the listings of the editor at a given
   host?  Will one be "required" to send a new listing in order to
   change a program?

         This material has not been reviewed for public release and is
         intended only for use with the ARPA network.  It should not be
         quoted or cited in any publication not related to the ARPA
         network.

         plf-2256

   From the point of view of a site such as TX-2, the questions become
   even more intriguing.  Many of our programs are written in assembly
   language.  Should we, therefore, also send along a copy of our
   (incomplete) assembly language manual?  Or should we drop everything
   else and complete the manual?  What about listings of our operating
   system since the programs make calls upon the system for input-
   output, file management, etc.?  (I could go on and on, but the
   readers should get the idea by now.)  Much of this applies to any
   host, but for a host which has a one-and-only computer,the problems
   are more acute.

   Once again, may I repeat my plea from RFC 459.  There are small
   research sites on the network.  TX-2 is one of them.  Please, network
   community, don't drown us in a sea of make-work.  We might get
   nothing done just keeping up with it.  Or is that no longer
   important?

   In particular, the network community ought to be glad that in the mid
   1960's we at TX-2 weren't bombarded with tons of make-work and were
   able to get something done.  What I have in mind is the initial
   experimentation with a small-scale network prototype with SDC which
   demonstrated the feasibility of networks and led to the ARPA Network.
   (Please see reference.)  Who knows what we, or some other site, will
   come up with if given the chance?

   Some people have suggested that I not write this RFC reasoning that
   if I just ignore it, the problem will go away.  But the problem is
   not going away.  If anything, it seems to be getting worse.  Silence
   becomes in effect tacit consent.  I do not intend to sit by and
   sacrifice useful work to satisfy bureaucratic compulsiveness.




Kantrowitz