386 UNIX on OpenNet

[Henry Spencer]

In article <1537 at ficc.uu.net> peter at ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
>As an aside, what is the history between the split between OSI and DOD?

Well, *very* concisely, the TCP/IP protocols are a bit old and have some
deficiencies, but on the whole they work pretty well.  ISO struck out on
its own partly because of Not Invented Here syndrome and partly because
anything from DoD is seen as politically unacceptable in some quarters.
It is not clear that the resulting protocols have any major advantage
over TCP/IP except for being ideologically cleaner (and more complex,
which is a definite advantage from the viewpoint of major manufacturers:
they have the resources to implement complex protocols, but those annoying
little startup companies that would like to compete with them don't).
The split may be moot in another decade, since neither protocol set has
the performance needed for fast optical-fiber networks.
-- 
NASA is into artificial        |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
stupidity.  - Jerry Pournelle  | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry at zoo.toronto.edu