Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!spool.mu.edu!uunet!fjcp60!golds
From: golds@fjc.GOV (Rich Goldschmidt)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: TCP API, binary standards
Message-ID: <383@fjcp60.GOV>
Date: 21 Mar 91 19:18:25 GMT
References: <1991Mar18.071505.15940@sunee.waterloo.edu> <1991Mar19.050844.1842@sunee.waterloo.edu>
Organization: Federal Judicial Center, Washington, D.C.
Lines: 30

> >... Perhaps it's
> >something that the academic community, which seems the most concerned
> >about it, could take up.

I'd like to add a couple comments.  First, it is not just the academic
community that is concerned about this issue.  Developers of commercial
packages for DOS which depend on TCP/IP have been heard to make very foul
noises about having to support three or four different TCP/IP implementations.
John Romkey may be right that it might not pay for itself for the makers of
toolkits, but I'm am quite sure it would pay for itself quite quickly for
commercial developers if the major players really would support a single
standard.  Being able to sell a single shrink-wrapped application would
also probably be a boost to DOS TCP/IP sales in general, since the volume
of applications, and their ease of installation would likely increase.

Second, those who really are looking to do something about this should
examine NetBIOS as a potential model.  It has its share of faults, but it
has done what is needed in terms of setting a binary standard for the
hardware interrupt and for the system calls to use it.  If a comparable
standard could be achieved for TCP/IP for DOS, it would be a great leap
forward for all TCP/IP application developers, not just those in
academia.




-- 
Rich Goldschmidt: uunet!fjcp60!golds or golds@fjc.gov
Commercialization of space is the best way to escape the zero-sum economy.
Disclaimer: I don't speak for the government, and it doesn't speak for me...