[ih] principles of the internet

[Dave Crocker]

On 6/1/2010 8:07 AM, Matthias Bärwolff wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> I am in the middle of an argumentative research exercise in which I try
> to map a set of principles that are central to the Internet (descriptive
> principles, as informed by practices and universality of applicability;
> not normative principles following purposes other than system stability
> and individual liberty). Since most here have plenty of hands-on
> experience I would be very appreciative of some feedback -- on-list,
> off-list; long, short; however you like it.
>
> I made up the following list:
>
> 1. original end-to-end arguments and economic efficiency concerns
> (speaking to completeness and efficiency of implementation)

I recommend separating these.

I also suggest distinguishing reliability from economics.  My understanding of 
the original motivations for work on packet switching were both reduced 
communications costs /and/ robustness against failures of communication components.


> 2. modularity, minimal coupling, and layering (speaking to the general
> architecture)
>
> 3. least privilege, and best effort (speaking to the actual shape of the
> interdependencies)

I do not automatically see how 'least privilege' was represented in the early 
work on networking.  I suppose that it applies for any system that is highly 
distributed, but I'm used to the term being applied for security concerns rather 
than operations.


> 4. cascadability and symmetry (speaking to the rules of efficient and
> flexible protocol design)

What do you mean by the term "cascadability"?  What do you mean by "symmetry" in 
this context.


> 5. running code, complexity avoidance, rough consensus, and path
> dependence (speaking to the governance process and its stability)

This sub-list merges at least two very different areas of concern.  One is the 
process for developing specification and the other pertains to technical 
characteristics of specifications.  The latter is also reflected elsewhere in 
your list.

d/
-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net