[ih] NCP to TCP/IP Transition

[Matthias Bärwolff]

Hi,

is my understanding correct in that it actually took more than a year to
do the transition from NCP to TCP/IP, starting roughly in early 1982 and
being done with by mid-1983? This is what RFC 801 (the plan), and rfc842
through rfc848 plus rfc876 (the progress reports) seem to indicate.

I am asking because the transition is nowadays always being referred to
as a flag day transition (which in may understanding is defined as the
very absence of any transition period, e.g. something like changing from
driving on the left to driving on the right side of the road), but
apparently this was neither the case, nor was it intended to be. There
was simply a deadline, which, of course, was not met.

Also, I am wondering, have the application layer gateways (relays) that
RFC 801 refers to been deployed, and if yes, to which extend, and how
successful?

And a final question, while I'm at it: How decisive was the pressure
from DCA in this? My impression has been that without the top-down
pressure the whole thing may well never have happened, despite all the
money being poured into TCP/IP implementations.

Pointers to relevant literature sources are appreciated, too. Thanks
again for your help.

Matthias

-- 
Matthias Bärwolff
mbaer at csail.mit.edu