[e2e] How many TCP flows fit in the Internet?

[Scheffenegger, Richard]

Hi,

> RFC content and the relevant protocol details aren't changed by "errata".
> We generally only pay attention to what's actually specified by the RFC,
> not what some Linux implementer decided might be better.

Actually, they are. 

http://www.rfc-editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=0793

http://www.rfc-editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=2018


Also, when one of the lead authors of an RFC publicly (and multiple times) admits that there is a technical issue with an RFC (and not some random implementer), there is probably some meat to it :)

While most errata are editorial or nits, there are a number of technical errata against a number of core tcp RFCs, that an implementer better follows unless he wants to chase bugs in the mechanisms that have been found and fixed a couple of times over (e.g. RFC0793)


And yes, I would also like to see updated RFCs (and the buggy ones obsoleted) when technical errata in the mechanisms are found. However, there is often only limited energy to pursue such an effort (generating a new RFC), and often a filed errata is seen as sufficient.

Best regards,

Richard Scheffenegger



> -----Original Message-----
> From: end2end-interest-bounces at postel.org [mailto:end2end-interest-
> bounces at postel.org] On Behalf Of William Allen Simpson
> Sent: Dienstag, 02. April 2013 09:35
> To: end2end-interest at postel.org
> Subject: Re: [e2e] How many TCP flows fit in the Internet?
> 
> On 3/31/13 2:08 PM, Matt Mathis wrote:
> > You may have overlooked one additional important detail:
> >
> > Linux TCP ignores the requirement in RFC 2018 that the SACK scoreboard
> > be cleared on a timeout.  [...] There is an errata against 2018, with
> > the relevant details.
> 
> RFC content and the relevant protocol details aren't changed by "errata".
> We generally only pay attention to what's actually specified by the RFC,
> not what some Linux implementer decided might be better.
> 
> 
> > Thanks,
> > --MM--
> > The best way to predict the future is to create it.  - Alan Kay
> >
> > Privacy matters!  We know from recent events that people are using our
> > services to speak in defiance of unjust governments.   We treat
> > privacy and security as matters of life and death, because for some
> > users, they are.
> >
> Excellent!
>