[2257] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
SLIPing Questions and Answers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Haverty)
Mon Feb 3 09:58:24 1992
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 92 06:53:33 PST
From: Jack Haverty <jhaverty@us.oracle.com>
To: marc@MIT.EDU
Cc: bzs@world.std.com, com-priv@psi.com, cook@tmn.com
In-Reply-To: Marc Horowitz's message of Sun, 02 Feb 92 03:20:55 EST <9202020820.AA09981@portnoy.MIT.EDU>
"...I think the problem is that Barry is assuming that when someone says
"TCP/IP" they mean NNTP, SMTP, FTP, and all those other protocols
which, when they break, require someone who knows what they are doing
to fix. I think the effort belongs in writing clients which optimize
the use of the link between the user and the server...."
Well, I think the effort belongs in fixing the system, including but not limited
to the protocols, so that they *don't* "break", and are easy and safe to install
and operate by people who don't consider themselves computer or network wizards.
Example - within the Oracle network last week, someone (a user) accidentally
configured a PC-class machine to have an address X.Y.35.0 instead of X.Y.0.35.
The effect was to disrupt service between the US and the rest of the world
(probably something related to broadcast addresses, we didn't bother to figure
it out). It took a wizard to find and fix the problem.
Jack
