RFC 967 (rfc967) - Page 1 of 2

All victims together

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Network Working Group                                    M. A. Padlipsky
Request for Comments: 967                              Mitre Corporation
                                                           December 1985

                          All Victims Together


STATUS OF THIS MEMO

   This RFC notes a significant omission from the networking literature
   and proposes to remedy it.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

DISCUSSION

   An interesting thing happened the other day. Some people were up
   visiting from IBM Federal Systems Division and, during the course of
   the conversation, one of them pointed out that they had just as much
   if not more trouble with the operating system purveyors about making
   OS "changes" in behalf of networking as anyone else. At the time I
   just observed that it looked as if we were all victims together and
   went on to the next point, but further reflection prompts me to offer
   a few thoughts on the topic to the RFC community:

   o   To us, it's axiomatic that networking code is system code when it
       has to be.

   o   To Them, it's anathema.

   o   We haven't really hit very hard on the point in the literature
       (although I guess I have made a few strong assertions along those
       lines, here and there, and it's at least implicit in some of Dave
       Clark's stuff), unless in my usual slipshod fashion I've just
       missed seeing it.

   o   It would probably be responsible of us to rectify the omission
       (assuming there is one) since the literature is supposed to be
       the way the researchers educate the practioners.

   o   Therefore, I propose a new subseries of RFCs on how the
       networking code was integrated with various OSs, with an eye
       toward subsequent publication of the collection in the open
       literature (RFCs being only semi-open, after all). I'll even
       volunteer to coordinate, at least to the extent of taking offers
       from people who are willing to tackle various systems and telling
       them who else is having a bash at the same one for purposes of
       possible collaboration--and possibly even merging the results of
       separate efforts if people just send in things they've already
       done. (I suppose I even have to offer to do a bit of editing, if
       people want.)




Padlipsky
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