Re: [irtf-discuss] [Internet Policy] Why the World Must Resist Calls to Undermine the Internet

[David Lloyd-Jones <[e-mail]>]

Joe,
Thanks,
-dlj.

On Wed, 16 Mar 2022 at 00:25, [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
wrote:

> (List admin hat off)
>
> Others have commented on various parts, but to address one not yet
> addressed:
>
> > On Mar 15, 2022, at 1:49 AM, David Lloyd-Jones <
> [e-mail]> wrote:
> >
> > Willi,
> > ...
> > First proposed by Bacon in the fifteenth century or so,
>
> IMO, Chappe should get most of the credit. I found a vague reference to
> Bacon and the idea, but nothing specific (if you can point us to a
> citation, it’d be sincerely appreciated).
>
> > the 'Net was a solid policy proposal made by Vannevar Bush in 1945.
>
> In “As we may think,”, he proposed something more akin to the Web (i.e., a
> cross-linked database). In fact, he said "It consists of a desk, and while
> it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of
> furniture at which he works.” - which is the opposite of “information at a
> distance” that is the core concept of networking. All the examples are of
> people creating their own encyclopedia, which misses the collaborative
> nature of the net.
>
> > It was made possible by the invention of packet-switching in the
> mid-1960 to 70s.
> > …
> >  In fact packet-switching, the key invention, was largely the work of
>
> Paul Baran and Donald Davies.
>
> > Lenny Kleinrock, under whom Cerf studied as a university student.
>
> , who (Len) made significant and key contributions to queuing theory,
> laying the theoretic foundations for what became packet switching, and
> which also had (and continues to have) many other uses at the time. Also
> important foundational work on the ARPAnet.
>
> But I haven’t seen him credited with *inventing* packet switching, though.
>
> It’s also worth noting that Postel was a student at UCLA at the same time,
> though his PhD advisor was Dave Farber, who was at UC Irvine at the time.
> The two found a loophole that a PhD advisor in the UC system had to come
> from somewhere in the UC system, but not necessarily at the same school as
> the student.
>
> Corrections from the gallery welcome, of course.
>
> Joe