[ih] principles of the internet

[Matthias Bärwolff]

Dave, thanks for your response.

On 06/01/2010 05:33 PM, Dave Crocker wrote:
> 
>> 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.
> 

There are ways in which you can have protocols doing similar things
(e.g. file transfer) but which are not possible to concatenate (or
cascade) without violating their semantics (pertaining to
acknowledgments and other such control actions).

Symmetry just means that neither end is conceptually master or slave,
instead both being equal peers (cf. Telnet symmetry).

> 
>> 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.

Agreed, the latter stands out somewhat. As for the separation you
mention, I would think, though, that the feasibility of getting anywhere
involves both the organization of the process, and the characteristics
of the resultant artifacts. I will have to think more about this.

Matthias

> 
> d/

-- 
Matthias Bärwolff
www.bärwolff.de