[e2e] Google seeks to tweak TCP

[Daniel Havey]

> We're deviating from E2E to history but I think this point
> matters, so
> a brief comment from one of the IETF founders.  We were
> never told to go
> through ISO.  But the broad issue of speed is entirely
> right.  IETF was
> a split off from INARCH (the Internet Architecture Task
> Force) and was
> motivated by a bunch of folks, largely ISPs and campus
> network operators,
> who desperately needed a bunch of nitty-gritty operational
> problems solved
> and documented -- problems that seemed to be falling through
> the cracks
> between the various Internet Task Forces of the time (there
> were several).
> As a result, the mode of operation was "find a working
> solution, document it in an RFC, and move to the next
> problem."
> 
> Note that most TCP work was NOT done in IETF but was done in
> the End-to-End
> Task Force (which created this mailing list).
> 
This is pretty interesting, but, I had better get back to work ;^)
BTW...Is this history recorded anywhere besides in your memories?


> Always a killer problem -- indeed, within a few years of the
> IETF getting
> going, Steve Crocker (an IESG member) noted we were
> beginning to develop the
> processes that tend to stymie standards organizations such
> as the ability
> to appeal decisions and copious mechansisms to ensure
> fairness over
> effectiveness.  These, incidentally, were in response
> to the arrival of
> corporate representatives at IETF -- in the early years,
> folks showed up
> to solve problems and didn't worry if the solution was
> optimal vis-a-vis
> their corporate market strategy.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Craig
> 
Hmmmm, so let me see if I understand what happened.  The End-to-End Task Force was created to speed up the process, then over time in response to the influx of corporate interests developed methods that slow it back down?

(Sorry for the oversimplification.  I hate to gloss over decades of history in one or two sentences, but, I really do have to finish preparing homework for my students)

I think that the point is important too.  The corporate interests are not going to go away and they are not going to suddenly become altruistic (except as it agrees with the bottom line).    They are doing what they are supposed to do and that is that.

This begs for a solution that is both fair enough to weigh the needs of all the different players, but, still fast enough to keep new minds from growing frustrated and deciding to do something else less political ;^)

A KILLER problem indeed ;^)

This is really interesting.  How would I find out more about the process and history?  Do I just have to sit on this list and wait for the story to work it's way to light?

...Daniel