Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpcnd!jason@hpcndjdz.CND.HP.COM From: jason@hpcndjdz.CND.HP.COM (Jason Zions) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: building an interstate (data) highway with no roadmaps Message-ID: <810029@hpcndjdz.CND.HP.COM> Date: 18 Jun 91 22:11:56 GMT References: Organization: HP Colorado Networks Division Lines: 45 >Efforts by existing commercial internet providers have been mediocre >at best. None appear to be much interested in mapping out the network >beyond the immediate needs of their customers. If you consider that >one of the roles of a commercial internet provider is to provide >access to software archives, and then you take a look at the state of >the software archives on uunet.uu.net and uu.psi.com, Ah, but many people do *not* consider provision of software archives to be a role for a commercial Internet provider. If I want a reliable transport medium to get bits from *here* to *there*, I pay a commercial Internet provider. If I want access to software archives, I find someone in the business (paid or _gratis_) of providing such a service. I believe it would be a mistake for the government to be expected to provide anything in the area of software archives or the like, except for giving away software they possess which was written at taxpayer expense and is therefore in the public domain. If the keepers of NREN are given the task of maintaining software archives, they're likely to start looking at what's in the archives and choosing what they will and will not make available. Do you really think the government would keep something like the Code Breaker's Workbench in any archive it maintained? Would it even store references to archives not under government control where such software might be maintained? NREN should be just that - a data highway. If you want the equivalent of a AAA TripTik, go to the equivalent of AAA and buy it; likewise for Rand-McNally maps and such. A more-apt metaphor, by the way, would be something like a Guide to Roadside America or some other sightseeing or travelling guide. Researching raw data and deciding what to put in those guides is what you pay for when you buy one, and those activities require (a) good judgement and (b) some restraint from censorship, neither of which is a known strength of the US Government. -- This is not an official statement of The Hewlett-Packard Company. No warranty is expressed or implied. The information included herein is not to be construed as a committment on HP's part. The devil made me do it. This won't save me from the lawyers' wrath, but it can't hurt. Jason Zions The Hewlett-Packard Company Colorado Networks Division 3404 E. Harmony Road Mail Stop 102 Ft. Collins, CO 80525 USA jason@cnd.hp.com (303) 229-3800