Lloyd Wood Bob Braden (Thanks, Danny!) has posted the slides from his "The First 31 Years of the Internet —
An Insider's View" talk. The first 24 screens are just net.history, but things get pretty juicy round-about slide 25:
Deep philosphical gap between Computer Scientists who
developed Internet architecture, and telecommunication
engineers:* Engineers: The Internet is under-engineered —
it does not solve all current problems in the most
optimal and controllable manner.Besides, we LOVE virtual circuits and complexity.
* Internet Researchers: Optimal is NOT the point.
The future adaptability of the Internet to new technologies
and to provide new services depends on NOT
over-engineering the Internet! Uncertainty: live with it.Besides, we LOVE datagrams and simplicity.
Internet Architecture Melting…
* Orgy of tunnel-vision engineering taking place in IETF to
meet these problems, and others.* A shortage of wisdom; continual need for damage control.
* Easily forget the cost of [over-] engineering; remember:
generality, heterogeneity, robustness, extensibility?* Maybe we need to pay people NOT to develop new
protocols.* But perhaps, it is also time to rethink the architecture.
Note to self: Use the word "orgy" in next talk.
Link (356k PDF)
(via Oblomovka)
