[ih] DNS History

[Craig Partridge]

Nope -- early attempt to do the web.

> Wasn't all that Archie and Veronica stuff an attempt to provide the 
> Internet with a directory service?
> 
> On 3/8/2010 2:15 PM, Craig Partridge wrote:
> > Intriguingly 822 contains support for multi-level domain names (at
> > a time they were largely not being considered) including several examples
> > and also  the early version of DNS names -- what I referred to in the day
> > as the "appellation controlee"  approach of using one's company as the
> > last part of the name.  In many ways it was a spec bullet-proofed for
> > whever the DNS ended up (belated kudos on that foresight!).
> >
> > Craig
> >
> >    
> >> Small tidbits:
> >>
> >> By accident, RFC 822 published a spec for domain /names/ slightly before t
> he
> >> DNS
> >> specification came out.  The efforts were parallel and 822 was a revision 
> to
> >> 733
> >> that included positioning for Internet (as opposed to Arpanet) usage.  Thi
> s
> >> included support for the scalable host naming system.
> >>
> >> And RFC 821 contained the support also.
> >>
> >> I remember being confused that each hop in the SMTP sequence was being giv
> en
> >> the
> >> /full/ domain name, rather than some incrementally stripped version and Jo
> n
> >> Postel gave me a tutorial about the difference between global naming and
> >> route-based naming.  Up to that time, any multi-part naming really was
> >> route-based, in some fashion, including the work we had done with CSNet
> >> (user at host@gateway).
> >>
> >> d/
> >>
> >> On 3/8/2010 12:31 PM, Craig Partridge wrote:
> >>      
> >>>> First, in terms of the RFC system, where are the comments themselves?  W
> er
> >>>>          
> >> e
> >>      
> >>>> they hard-copies that no longer exist, or mailing lists that have been
> >>>> tucked away somewhere?  Is there any correspondence left (for DNS relate
> d
> >>>> RFCs) or has it all been lost?
> >>>>          
> >>> There was no formal comment system (nor is there now).  But there were lo
> ts
> >>> of comments on drafts on various mailing lists.   For DNS issues the
> >>> archives of the namedroppers list is probably your best place
> >>> (http://psg.com/lists/namedroppers and kudos to Randy Bush for bringing i
> t
> >>> up)
> >>>
> >>>        
> >>>> Second, does anyone have or know where to find details about the
> >>>> debates/conversations that took place leading up to RFC 1591 and what
> >>>> appears to be a "compromise" between generic and ccTLDs?
> >>>>          
> >>> RFC 1591 is awfully late -- most key technical issues, as I recall, were
> >>> determined when RFC973 came out.
> >>>
> >>>        
> >>>> Third, it is not entirely clear to me exactly why DNS was engineered in
> >>>> place of X.500.  It is my understanding at this early point in my resear
> ch
> >>>> that OSI standards seemed inevitable at one point, and sources have told
>  m
> >>>>          
> >> e
> >>      
> >>>> that DNS was designed to get something out the door quickly (presumably
> >>>> something that *wasn't* X.500).  Was X.500 simply based on an old paradi
> gm
> >>>> (white pages / old telecom) and seen as a bulky and slow alternative?  W
> he
> >>>>          
> >> n,
> >>      
> >>>> and with whom, was the actual decision made to ditch X.500 altogether?  
> Th
> >>>>          
> >> is
> >>      
> >>>> part of the story goes a long way to explaining why everyone in the worl
> d
> >>>> doesn't have a unique identifier.
> >>>>          
> >>> I have my theory on that subject -- I'll send you the relevant paper I wr
> ot
> >>>        
> >> e
> >>      
> >>> on the history of email, there's a brief discussion.
> >>>
> >>> Thanks!
> >>>
> >>> Craig
> >>>
> >>>        
> >> -- 
> >>
> >>     Dave Crocker
> >>     Brandenburg InternetWorking
> >>     bbiw.net
> >>      
> > ********************
> > Craig Partridge
> > Chief Scientist, BBN Technologies
> > E-mail: craig at aland.bbn.com or craig at bbn.com
> > Phone: +1 517 324 3425
> >    
> 
> -- 
> Richard Bennett
> Research Fellow
> Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
> Washington, DC
********************
Craig Partridge
Chief Scientist, BBN Technologies
E-mail: craig at aland.bbn.com or craig at bbn.com
Phone: +1 517 324 3425