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From: mrs2@seismo.CSS.GOV@bunny.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.protocols
Subject: Submission for mod-protocols
Message-ID: <8702191514.AA20193@bunny.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Feb-87 10:14:52 EST
Article-I.D.: bunny.8702191514.AA20193
Posted: Thu Feb 19 10:14:52 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Feb-87 21:02:00 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 38
Approved: protocols@red.rutgers.edu

Path: bunny!mrs2
From: mrs2@bunny.UUCP (Mark Scherfling)
Newsgroups: mod.protocols
Subject: Re: Submission for mod-protocols
Keywords: Courier, Xerox, XNS
Message-ID: <927@bunny.UUCP>
Date: 19 Feb 87 15:14:51 GMT
References: <8702172315.AA00735@uvabick.UUCP>
Reply-To: mrs2@bunny.UUCP (Mark Scherfling)
Followup-To: Info on Courier
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Waltham MA
Lines: 26

The Courier Remote Procedure Call protocol (RPC) was developed by
Xerox as part of their XNS protocol suite.  Two years ago, they were
selling documentation packets which contained all the Xerox protocols
(currently published for external consumption) including the Interpress
printing protocol. Below is the contact I had in ordering these manuals:
   Dennis Frahmann
   Manager, Protocols Marketing
   Xerox Corp.
   Office Systems Division
   2100 Geng Rd.
   Palo Alto, California  94303

I am unsure of any commercial implementation of Courier.  Network Research
Corp.'s Fusion products may have implemented Courier, but I'm not sure.  XNS
has lost favor among the network integrators due to the need to communicate with
government agencies (running TCP/IP), the overwheming availability of TCP/IP in 
Berkeley Unix implementations, and the incomplete (read: non existence) of
common applications for XNS. 
Its too bad.  Courier and Clearinghouse were some of the finest higher level
protocols to exist when they were published. Bill Joy of Sun Microsystems liked
them so much, he rewrote them for TCP/IP and called them RPC and YellowPages,
respectfully. Oh well, protocols marchs forward.

-- Mark Scherfling
   GTE Labs