[ih] birth of the Internet?

[Matthias Bärwolff]

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It is probably fair to add that the TCP/IP split, which was really at
the heart of getting the Internet going, took place in 1977/1978, a
process nicely reflected in the IEN notes from the time. UDP was drafted
in 1979; by then it was probably fairly clear that there would be no
going back to the initial monolithic TCP.

I have recently written up a pretty detailed account of those
developments, drop me a note off list in case you want a PDF copy of that.

Going back to the original question -- when was the Internet born? -- I
am surely not the first to note that it is probably a futile exercise to
try and find any precise date that may adequately be taken as the birth
date of the Internet; it would probably not even be far-fetched to go
back to the Greek and some beacon communication scheme (which already
had a fair amount of "control plane elaboration" to it).

Matthias


On 10/28/2010 02:44 PM, Vint Cerf wrote:
> 1. initial design: Spring-Fall 1973
> 2. first published paper: May 1974
> 3. first full spec of TCP: December 1974 (RFC 675)
> 4. More complete specs after splitting off of IP: RFC791, 792, 793 - 1981
> 5. official launch of Internet: January 1, 1983 (which also coincided
> with the creation of MILNET split from former research ARPANET) and
> the incorporation of the Packet Satellite and Packet Radio Net(s) into
> the DARPA Internet. this was also the date of replacement of NCP with
> TCP/IP
> 6. As I recall, there were tests well before 1983 in which the Xerox
> PARC ethernet was linked to Internet by way of a packet radio at PARC
> connecting via the SRI International operated Packet Radio network.
> Larry Masinter's name comes to mind as having had something to do with
> this but others on the list may have clearer recollections. The first
> Packet Radio/ARPANET tests of TCP/IP occurred in the 1975 time frame
> using a BBN developed gateway. The first three-network tests were done
> on November 22, 1977 linking ARPANET, the SF Bay Area Packet Radio net
> and the Packet Satellite Network.
> 
> vint
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 8:19 AM, Miles Fidelman
> <mfidelman at meetinghouse.net> wrote:
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> I've been part of an interesting discussion, on another list, that's led to
>> the question of when the Internet was actually "born."
>>
>> Was it:
>> - when the ARPANET moved from NCP to TCP/IP?
>> - when the ARPANET was split into two, linked backbones (ARPANET/MILNET)?
>> - was there an earlier point at which IP was linking LANs across the
>> ARPANET?
>> - some other event?
>>
>> Miles Fidelman
>>
>> --
>> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
>> In<fnord>  practice, there is.   .... Yogi Berra
>>
>>
>>
> 

- -- 
Matthias Bärwolff
www.bärwolff.de
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