[ih] Ken Olsen's impact on the Internet

[Larry Sheldon]

On 2/14/2011 9:26 AM, Miles Fidelman wrote:
> Eric Gade wrote:
>> On Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 1:43 PM, Miles Fidelman
>> <mfidelman at meetinghouse.net <mailto:mfidelman at meetinghouse.net>> wrote:
>>
>> OSI was an attempt to impose a classical, top-down, standards approach
>>
>> It is my understanding that a top-down process is fairly uncommon as
>> far as the formation of international technical standards are
>> concerned, and that OSI was abberant in this regard.
> Really? With the exception of IETF standards, I've seen pretty much
> everything else get written by committee, then promulgated, then fixed
> in later revisions.
>
> As far as I can tell, the bottom-up model, based on "rough consensus and
> running code," as well as multiple interoperable implementations – with
> a very slow progression from experimental to recommended to mandatory –
> is unique to IETF.

That would be an interesting thing to study.  Seems  to me, just off the 
top of my head, that an awful lot of the important inventions went from 
"wow, look at how neat this is" to "I wonder if there is a way to make 
use of (aka if there is a way to turn a buck or bead or clam or ...) 
this.  Not the other way around.

Who do you reckon was funding the Committee To Develop A Way To Cook Meat?
-- 
Superfluity does not vitiate
California Civil Code quote-#3537

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving 
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in 
sideways, your body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and 
screaming,"Yah hoo! What a ride!"
    ripped from "GM" Roper


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