[ih] Packet nets not connected to the ARPAnet

[Alex McKenzie]

Yes, There were packet networks not connected to the ARPAnet.  Two in particular were: Cyclades/Cigale in France, and the European Informatics Network with nodes in 6 of the Common Market countries.  There _were_ some interconnections between the public packet networks (Telenet in the USA, Bell Canada, and the networks of the PTTs in western Europe and Japan), but these interconnections were extremely limited experiments for the most part.  CSNET (funded by the NSF) used both ARPAnet and Telenet for transport but only provided user-level (eg mail) interconnection and only for CSNET members.



________________________________
 From: Ofer Inbar <cos at aaaaa.org>
To: Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> 
Cc: internet-history at postel.org 
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 6:41 PM
Subject: Re: [ih] FYI - Gordon Crovitz/WSJ on "Who Really Invented the Internet?"
 
Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> wrote:
> The writer of the LA Times article might have done well if he had checked
> with his friend Bob Taylor. He writes.
> 
> "Bob Taylor is a friend of mine, and I think I can say without fear of
> contradiction that he fully endorses the idea as a point of personal pride
> that the government-funded ARPANet was very much the precursor of the
> Internet as we know it today"
> 
> Well that's not what Bob Taylor has written elsewhere. To quote Bob,
> 
> "I believe the first internet was created at Xerox PARC, circa '75, when we
> connected, via PUP, the Ethernet with the ARPAnet. PUP (PARC Universal
> Protocol) was instrumental later in defining TCP."

That supports the assertion that the ARPANet was the precursor of the
Internet, so I see no contradiction.

Note that "the first internet" per se wouldn't necessarily have to be
a precursor of "The Internet".  Were there any packet switched
internets* in those days that did not connect to the ARPANet?  While
those would not have had a direct lineage to The Internet, it'd still
be interesting to know about them.  I don't recall hearing of any.

* by which I mean: interconnections of administratively separate
  networks in geographically separate locations with different
  underlying network types - administratively separate is key

  -- Cos
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