[Info-vax] Rethinking DECNET ?

[JF Mezei]

On 14-09-06 07:05, Johnny Billquist wrote:

> I would say that what happened was that already in the 80s, TCP/IP 
> proved that it already existed, it already worked, and was already 
> available on multiple platforms. In addition, it was actually a project 
> funded by the US Department of Defence, and of course they were using it.


One problem:  the IP stack and applications were not up to snuff to
replace security/functionality provided by the likes of DECnet. And IBM
may not have had much functionality with SNA, but it had and wanted to
maintain security levels.

SMTP did not have reliable ability to have read receipts, and many other
functions that were part of X.400

In other words, with OSI, they built a "cadillac" with plenty of
functionality but at the end of the day, people only needed a much
simpler Lada/Yugo.

Another aspect to consider: it was not until early 1990s that the
internet became "commercial".  Before that, it was seen more as an
educational/military network not suited for widespread commercial
deployment.

Once the internet was unleashed to the masses, it of course became a no
brainer that it should become the de-facto standard. But before that, it
wasn't so obvious. (even though IP could be used internally).