[ih] ARPAnet and nuclear survivability
Bernie Cosell
bernie at fantasyfarm.com
Tue Sep 1 12:59:14 PDT 2009
On another list the old question came up again and I'm not sure I've ever
gotten a straight answer. I have always thought that Licklider's intent
was to build a collaboration/research network. The early participants
were pretty much all universities and I can't recall any military people
involved in the design or development of it. [OTOH the IMP *was*
originally delivered in a fully mil-spec ruggedized case...]
Others have repeated the claim that the justification for the ARPAnet was
to provide communications that could survive a nuclear attack and of
course, there was Baran's paper [although he wasn't the only person
developing ideas about packet switching]
BUT as far as i can remember there were *NO* military folks involved with
anything to do with the early ARPAnet: I don't recall any military info
in the reports [at least not the ones that we [BBN] prepared], nor did I
remember any "requirements" that came from or were reviewed by military
folk. Does anyone know that bit of the tale? [e.g., I have no idea how
the ARPAnet was presented to Congress]
/Bernie\
--
Bernie Cosell Fantasy Farm Fibers
mailto:bernie at fantasyfarm.com Pearisburg, VA
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